Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as the chair of ACAS, as set out in the register. I am grateful to my noble friend the Minister for his detailed introduction to these two SIs.

As we know, these proposals are part of the rollout of the Employment Rights Act reforms, which are being introduced in line with the road map published at that time, and there has been detailed consultation and stakeholder involvement in shaping the code of practice. ACAS has also been closely involved with DBT officials to shape that code. So, there has been plenty of time for employers and unions to prepare for these changes and they do not contain any surprises. In fact, in a recent YouGov survey, 62% of employers reported feeling very or fairly confident about the upcoming changes to trade union rights, with only 21% not feeling confident.

These proposals bring the balloting regime into the modern age, with the provisions for electronic, hybrid and workplace voting being similar to decision-making in many other areas, including political parties and shareholder votes. So we welcome the fact that this SI will enhance the democratic process and increase participation, giving employers and unions more confidence that the outcome fully represents the views of those consulted in the ballot.

It has been important to ACAS that the code uses clear, plain and unambiguous language. This reduces the potential for misunderstandings, non-compliance and disputes, particularly at the early stages of implementation when parties are unfamiliar with the new rights and responsibilities. It is also important that the code strikes the right balance between principles and detail and is properly tailored to those who will actually use it.

For example, ACAS-administered voluntary ballots, particularly in recognition negotiations, are a useful tool in dispute resolution. We are grateful that, following feedback, it has now been confirmed that these are out of scope of the code. This underlines how the department has listened and amended the code to reflect the practical needs of users.

Finally, although we welcome the increased participation in decision-making that the code will deliver, we urge parties to keep their focus on resolving disputes through partnership—and, of course, ACAS conciliation services are just a phone call away.

Sadly, the latest ACAS research shows that 44% of people experienced conflict at work in the last year. This has a cost to businesses, individuals and the economy—in stress, time off, presenteeism and many more effects. Your Lordships have previously discussed the fact that the number of employment tribunal cases is rising, causing a growing and unacceptable backlog of hearings. There are clearly rising levels of discontent and unhappiness in workplace relations.

ACAS already provides training and guidance on working effectively with trade unions, but we need to do more. So I hope my noble friend the Minister will say what more could be done to encourage parties to prevent and manage disputes so that the need for ballots does not arise. I hope he agrees that where disputes do arise, the parties should be encouraged to make use of ACAS collective conciliation services, or other informal resolution, rather than resorting too quickly to a ballot. I look forward to his response.