Employment Rights Bill [H.L.] (Hansard, 5 June 1995)

§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Mackay of Clashfern)
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time.
This Bill is the first of two linked consolidation Bills on the Order Paper in my name. If I may, I shall speak to them both together, and then move the second formally.
These two Bills restate most of the employment legislation which remained unconsolidated after the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Although the 1992 Act did include some provisions about individual employment rights and the tribunal system for employment cases, it did so only to the extent that they related to the other matters with which the Act dealt. The Employment Rights Bill now before your Lordships' House consolidates the remaining provisions of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 about the rights of employers and employees together with three sets of free-standing provisions about workers' rights.
The Act of 1978 has been substantially amended, and it has become increasingly difficult for practitioners in employment law, not to mention employers (in particular small businesses) and employees, to find their way around the statutory provisions. The consolidation of a field of law where individuals often have to act without professional advice will be very welcome, and I should like to take this opportunity to thank the draftsman for continuing this important consolidation work.
In the 1994 Green Paper, Resolving Employment Rights Disputes, the Government included a commitment to bring forward legislation to consolidate individual employment rights legislation at the earliest practicable opportunity. The introduction of the Employment Rights Bill fulfils that commitment. If your Lordships are content to give these Bills a Second Reading, they will be referred in the usual way to the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills. I commend the Bills to your Lordships.

§ Baroness Turner of Camden
My Lords, I thank the noble and learned Lord for introducing these two Bills. Obviously it is to the advantage of everybody concerned with employment law to have them consolidated into two separate Bills. I should like to raise one question in regard to the Industrial Tribunals Bill. As I have raised these issues before, I do not suppose the noble and learned Lord will be surprised.
The Industrial Tribunals Bill also covers the Employment Arbitration Tribunal. What continues to concern me in regard to EAT and IT operations is the length of time it still takes for cases to be resolved. Industrial tribunal cases still take some time to be heard, but in relation to appeals to the EAT it can take a long time before a case is finally resolved.
Technically it is possible for an industrial tribunal to order reinstatement. If an employee has to wait while a case proceeds to appeal in an issue where reinstatement has been ordered, it is not realistic to expect that to be considered and agreed upon if the EAT takes around three years to hear the case. The other issue is that employers 1184 themselves can appeal and, if an employer appeals against an IT case which has been resolved in favour of the employee, it is a bit hard on the employee to have to wait a number of years before the issue is resolved on appeal, particularly as I understand that no interest is payable on any amount awarded.
I understand that further judges have been appointed—we raised this issue some time ago in your Lordships' House—but the numbers still do not seem to be sufficient. I therefore appeal to the noble and learned Lord to give this issue some consideration. Otherwise we welcome the consolidation of these Bills into this form and thank those who are responsible for the drafting.

§ The Lord Chancellor
My Lords, as the noble Baroness is aware, the need for judicial resources in the Employment Appeal Tribunal was one of the matters considered by the working party set up by my noble and learned friend the Lord Chief Justice and myself some time ago, which resulted in a substantial increase in the judicial power of the High Court. One result of that has been to reduce substantially the waiting time for cases being heard by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. I should like to see that waiting time reduced still further, but, as the noble Baroness is aware, there are many calls on the judicial strength of the High Court and the question of how many judges should be in the Employment Appeal Tribunal is one that must be reviewed from time to time. The noble Baroness has my assurance that I shall keep under review this important area of High Court judge deployment. I commend the Bill to the House.