§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many nominations were submitted in each region by the Trades Union Congress and Confederation of British Industry for lay membership of industrial tribunals during the past five years; and how many in each case he has rejected. [6474]
Mr. John M. TaylorDuring the period nominations were submitted in 1992 and 1995. The information requested is set out in the tables.
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Table 1: Nominations by the Trades Union Congress 1992 Appointment exercise 1995 Appointment exercise Regional office Nominated Not appointed Nominated Not appointed Bedford 57 40 65 50 Birmingham 54 33 44 34 Bristol 69 41 47 24 Cardiff 42 25 61 28 Leeds 88 66 85 63 London North 118 189 141 110 London South 81 58 128 85 Manchester 91 71 88 59 Newcastle 59 29 41 34 Nottingham 60 43 55 48 Southampton 73 22 53 53 Scotland 53 18 75 21 Totals 845 535 883 609 1Of the 118 CBI and TUC nominees not appointed in 1992. 51 nominated by the TUC and 18 nominated by the CBI (who satisfied the basic criteria for selection) were appointed for 11 months only in 1994. This was to meet the need for additional lay members for a new Office of Industrial Tribunals in the London north region.
Table 2: Nominations by the Confederation of British Industry 1992 Appointment exercise 1995 Appointment exercise Regional office Nominated Not appointed Not Nominated Not appointed Bedford 51 40 23 18 Birmingham 47 26 35 31 Bristol 60 47 27 16 Cardiff 33 8 30 18 Leeds 38 129 34 21 London North 42 29 45 26 London South 63 51 44 26 Manchester 61 44 27 15 Newcastle 41 10 18 16 Nottingham 28 19 23 21 Southampton 60 28 23 23 Scotland 41 19 22 5 Totals 565 350 351 236 1Of the 118 CBI and TUC nominees not appointed in 1992. 51 nominated by the TUC and 18 nominated by the CBI (who satisfied the basic criteria for selection) were appointed for 11 months only in 1994. This was to meet the need for additional lay members for a new Office of Industrial Tribunals in the London north region.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many lay members of the industrial tribunals in each region have not been reappointed in the last(a) 15, (b) 10 and (c) five years, giving the nominating organisation in each case. [6475]
Mr. TaylorInformation on the number of non-reappointments to the lay membership of the industrial tribunals in 1989, 1992 and 1995 is given in the following tables. Details for 1983 and 1986 are no longer available.
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Region Non-reappointments Nominating body 1989 Birmingham 3 TUC Bristol 1 CBI Cardiff 1 CBI Leeds 4 CBI(1); TUC(3) London (North) 14 CBI(8); TUC(6) London (South) 21 CBI(11); TUC(10) Newcastle 10 CBI(5); TUC(5) Nottingham 3 CBI(2); TUC(1) Southampton 18 CBI(13); TUC(5) Scotland 1 CBI 1992 Bedford 1 CBI Birmingham 9 CBI(4); TUC(5) Bristol 3 TUC Cardiff 2 TUC Leeds 6 FSB(I); LGMB(1); TUC(4) London (North) 24 BRC(1); CBI(5);LGMB(2): TUC(16) London South 9 BRC(1): CBI(4); TUC(4) Manchester 6 BRC(1):CBI(3); TUC(2) Newcastle 1 TUC Southampton 5 CBI(1); TUC(4) Scotland 10 CBI(2): TUC(8) 1995 Bedford 3 ABCC(1): TUC(2) Birmingham 2 CBI
Region Non-reappointments Nominating body Bristol 3 TUC London (North) 1 TUC London (South) 9 ABCC(1); CBI(5);IOD(1); TUC(2) Manchester 2 CBI(1); TUC(I) Newcastle 1 TUC Southampton 6 CBI(4); TUC(2) Scotland 5 COMPS(l); TUC(4) Note:
The nominating bodies referred to in the above tables are: Association of British Chambers of Commerce (ABCC); British Retail Consortium (BRC); Confederation of British Industry (CBI); Council of Managerial and Professional Staffs (COMPS); Federation of Small Businesses (FSB); Institute of Directors (IOD); Local Government Management Board (LGMB); Trades Union Congress (TUC).
In addition, in a special exercise to supply additional lay members to the London (north) regional office of industrial tribunals in advance of the main 1995 recruitment, 85 lay members who satisfied the basic criteria but were not selected for appointment in 1992 were appointed for 11 months in November 1994. These appointments were made on the basis that they would be reconsidered with new applications received in 1995. Sixty of the one year appointees were not reappointed.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade who has access to information contained within personal files held on lay members of industrial tribunals. [6473]
Mr. TaylorInformation provided by lay members which is needed for allocating lay members to hearings and for monitoring purposes—for example, ethnic origin—is prepared and held on computer records centrally and made available to regional secretaries and listing officers in regional and other offices of industrial tribunals. Any other information relevant to the appointment or reappointment of lay members is held centrally within my Department and is accessed by seven members of staff involved in the process of appointments to industrial tribunals. The views of the judiciary may be sought on reappointments and where views are submitted copies may be held by the following people and their personal secretaries: the secretary to the industrial tribunals in Scotland, the regional chairmen in England and Wales and the two presidents of industrial tribunals.
§ Mr. McCartneyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish details of the procedures used by his Department in determining the appointments and re-appointments of lay members of the industrial tribunals in England and Wales. [6472]
Mr. TaylorThe procedures for appointing lay members to industrial tribunals were publicised in a press notice issued by the former Employment Department on 30 December 1994. A copy of which is available from the Library of the House. Lay members are normally reappointed at the end of a three-yearly term of office unless their performance or attendance has been unsatisfactory. Decisions on reappointments are taken by the Secretary of State after consulting the industrial tribunal judiciary.