§ Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he plans that the new regulations on employment agencies and businesses will come into force. [R] [125182]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 9 June 2000]I expect the revised regulations to come in to force later this year or at the beginning of 2001, subject to Parliamentary approval.
§ Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many complaints were made by end-users about the imposition of temporary to permanent fees by recruitment agencies in 1999; [R] [125183]
(2) how many temporary workers suffered detriment because of the imposition of temporary to permanent fees by recruitment agencies in 1999. [R] [125184]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 9 June 2000]Temporary to permanent fees, provided they are notified by bureaux to hirers before they enter into a contract, are not at present regulated and my Department does not therefore maintain any systematic record of the complaints it receives about their imposition. Representations about the adverse effects of transfer fees were received from end-users, agencies, various trade associations and others during the course of the consultation last year. My Department has reason to believe that a substantial number of hirers, who have not negotiated satisfactory terms with bureaux, are deterred from offering permanent work to temporary workers because of the inclusion of transfer fee clauses in bureaux' terms of business.
§ Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what assessment his Department has made of the impact on recruitment companies which place non-specialist manual workers in temporary contracts of the proposed four-week quarantine period included in his Department's current proposals for regulating temporary to permanent fees; and if he will make a statement; [125188]
(2) for what reasons his Department has proposed to limit the proposed quarantine period for the regulation of temporary to permanent fees on recruitment companies to four weeks; and if he will make a statement; [125187]
(3) what assessment his Department has made of the impact on recruitment companies placing information technology contractors in temporary contracts of the 468W proposed four-week quarantine period included in his Department's current proposals for regulating temporary to permanent fees; and if he will make a statement; [125186]
(4) what assessment his Department has made of the case for regulations to ensure that recruitment agencies can protect themselves from end-users, or other agencies, poaching from their contractor base; and if he will make a statement. [125185]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 9 June 2000]Our proposal to limit the period of quarantine that bureaux may impose, to a maximum of four weeks, seeks to protect the interests of those using bureaux, to secure the proper conduct of bureaux and to promote labour market flexibility. I do not have power under the Employment Agencies Act 1973 in relation to the conduct of hirers. Bureaux will be able to protect their interests by a variety of means, such as by settling satisfactory transfer terms with hirers or by offering attractive employment terms to workers. In sectors such as IT, bureaux will continue to be able to arrange fixed length contracts with hirers and workers so that they have certainty over the period during which they may recoup costs. Bureaux supplying non-specialist manual workers will continue to be able to negotiate terms that suit them and their clients such as, for example, by providing that no transfer fee is payable once a minimum number of weeks' hire have elapsed.