HC Deb 09 February 1993 vol 218 cc586-7W
Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will estimate the cost per thousand to employers of meeting requirements for renewed check-off deductions.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

The cost to those employers who choose to operate check-off arrangements of the new requirements in the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Bill will depend on their particular circumstances. Employers may agree, as part of the arrangements, to recoup some or all of the cost from the trade unions on whose behalf they operate the check-off.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment who proposed to Government the requirement that employers would be required to seek renewed consent to check-off deductions from their employees every three years.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

This proposal is based on a recommendation in the response of the Institute of Personnel Management to the Green Paper, "Industrial Relations in the 1990s".

Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if employers are presently prohibited from checking at any time and at any interval whether any employee maintains consent previously given for deductions of union subscriptions.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

No. Existing law on the operation of the check-off offers little protection to employees who pay their union subscriptions through the check-off.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which bodies have supported the proposed requirement for renewed consent to check-off deductions.

Mr. McLoughlin

Responses to legislative proposals are automatically treated as confidential. Bodies that have publicly supported the principle of periodic renewal of consent include the Confederation of British Industry and the Institute of Directors.