HC Deb 18 June 1975 vol 893 cc1608-9
Miss Richardson

I beg to move Amendment No. 82, in page 42, line 16, at end insert: 'or was known to the complainant'. You will be glad to know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that this is the last of my amendments that have been selected.

We had a debate on this clause in Committee on the basis that the Opposition wanted to reduce the period during which a complaint could be made from three months, as in the Bill, to one month. I should like now partially to extend the three-month period, to make it three months from the time when the matter of complaint became known to the complainant.

Three months is about right, but this proviso must be added because there must be cases in which the complaint is not known to the potential complainant within that period. It may not necessarily be possible for it to be known within that period.

I take as an example a person who had applied for and been interviewed for a job. The applicant often does not receive information on whether or not he has got the job until some weeks later. If he chose to complain that he had been discriminated against in the choice of applicants for that job, his complaint may well be out of time. Therefore, it is important to add to the clause the words or was known to the complainant", thereby making it just a little wider and better able to allow the complainant to make the complaint at the proper time.

I hope that the Government will consider this amendment very seriously. There are many cases in which this problem could easily arise. Having inserted the provision about three months, it would be a pity if the complainant were debarred in some way from making a complaint.

Mr. John Fraser

I think I can assure my hon. Friend that the situation that she has in mind is already fully covered by subsection (5). This allows a court or tribunal to hear complaints outside the three-month limit if it were not reasonably practicable for them to be brought earlier. Clearly, it would not be reasonably practicable for a person to institute proceedings before she had realised that she had been discriminated against.

I hope that with that assurance my hon. Friend will feel able to withdraw the amendment.

1.45 a.m.

Miss Richardson

I am not very happy about it. However, the hour being late, I shall not press it.

Amendment negatived.

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