Over the past year Acas received just 43,231 complaints of unfair dismissal for conciliation compared with 58,513 equal pay complaints. This is an increase of more than 30,000 equal pay complaints from the previous year.

Complaints from local authority employees account for many of the equal pay claims, and a glance at previous years’ figures indicates just how much claims in this jurisdiction have shot up. Past Acas annual reports show the number of equal pay claims received for conciliation in previous years. The figures are: 27,497 in 2006-07; 14,147 in 2005-06; 7,586 in 2004-05; 3,073 in 2003-04; 2,665 in 2002-03; and 2,562 in 2001-02.

And it looks like the trend for local authority equal pay disputes is spreading across the country. While the report indicates an ongoing demand for conciliation in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber, and the North West, it also notes that Acas is receiving an increasing number of requests for conciliation from local authorities in Wales, and, for the first time, London.

Reports indicate that there are now more than 30,000 tribunal claims lodged against NHS employers - mainly in relation to Agenda for Change. Most are currently stayed pending the decision in the test case Hartley v Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, expected to be heard in the Newcastle tribunal this autumn. Since there has been little conciliation in respect of cases lodged, and Acas has not been approached to conciliate on potential cases, the Acas figures for equal pay claims received for conciliation could represent just the tip of the iceberg.

The report is available on the Acas website.