§ Mr. LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the powers he has under section 23 of the Employment Relations Act 1999; and on which occasions she has used them and under which circumstances, with special reference to when she would use them in future. [66080]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 3 July 2002]: The power in Section 23 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 enables the Government to confer statutory employment rights under or by virtue of specified primary legislation. Before deciding whether and how to use this power, we are undertaking a review of employment status issues in relation to statutory employment rights and intend to publish a discussion document before the end of July.