§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleMy honourable friend the Deputy Minister for Women and Equality (Jacqui Smith) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I have today published a consultation document on proposals to streamline equal value tribunal cases. Equal pay cases can be notoriously slow and complex, particularly the large-scale cases concerning questions of whether jobs are of equal value. Our proposals to speed up and simplify these cases form part of a package of measures to improve the way the Equal Pay Act 1970 works in practice. For example, last year we introduced the equal pay questionnaire and lengthened the time limits for bringing cases and for making arrears payments.
28WSThe overall aim of our new proposals is to make the tribunal process work as effectively as possible and to tackle the lengthy delays that can occur in the more complex cases. Key features include: providing the Employment Tribunal presidents of England and Wales, and of Scotland, with the power to appoint tribunals with a specialist knowledge of equal value cases; promoting firmer case management, for example, through providing standard directions to ensure early exchange of information; streamlining complex rules of procedure; and ensuring more effective use of independent experts. The new provisions dovetail with the proposed new Employment Tribunal Regulations and rules of procedure. The intention is that, subject to parliamentary approval, these measures should come into effect on 1 October 2004.
The consultation document will be placed on the DTI and Women and Equality Unit websites so that it is available to the wider public. The consultation period will run for 12 weeks, with a closing date for comments of 10 June 2004. Copies of the consultation document have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.