§ Mr. DhandaTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Employment Relations Act 1989 will be reviewed; and if she will make a statement. [68342]
§ Ms HewittThe review begins today. Its terms of reference are the following
The Government has reformed the labour market to build a durable and fair basis for constructive employment relations. By a range of measures, the UK labour market is achieving high levels of employment and combining fairness and flexibility.In line with commitments made in the 1998 Fairness at Work White Paper, the Government will review the operation of the statutory union recognition and derecognition procedures in the Employment Relations Act 1999. The review will also look at the operation of the other provisions of the Act.The review will be carried out by the DTI through full public consultation. The DTI will complete this task to a timetable enabling any legislative recommendations which the review may make to be introduced within the lifetime of this Parliament.I am placing in the Libraries of the House a Schedule describing the subjects covered in the Act.