Employment Rights Bill

Debate between Lord Palmer of Childs Hill and Lord Berkeley

Report stage
Monday 21st July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Berkeley (Lab)]

My Lords, I support this amendment wholeheartedly. I have attended many meetings of the heritage rail group, and I congratulate my noble friend on the way he has taken it forward.

One thing we have not mentioned is the quite regular reports from members who run the small railways about the fear of breaking the law and the effect it could have if there are legal cases and they run out of money. Most of them are very short of money, and they rely on as much voluntary work as they possibly can. The thought of being taken to court—whether it is by the regulator, which is unlikely, as my noble friend says, or others—really puts them off welcoming younger people. It is the fear of legal action against a voluntary organisation which is the most serious part of this debate.

[Lord Palmer of Childs Hill (LD)]

My Lords, the incredible thing about this amendment is that it has signatures and support from the Conservative Benches, the Labour Benches, the Liberal Democrat Benches and the Cross Benches. It is something the Government should take into account. It is not some weird idea from one part of this House, it is across the House. I applaud the initiative which started with my old friend, the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner—if he would allow me to say that. The principle here is to try to stop unintended consequences. The law is as it is, and it cannot be ignored. We have an opportunity to tweak the employment rights legislation to put that right.

We are dealing with young people who are doing voluntary work on the railways. There was an incredible programme on television recently—which I referred to in a previous speech—where the young people were doing all the jobs on this heritage railway, except running the engine, which was dangerous and they were not allowed to do; they were the porters, the inspectors, et cetera. We all gain from it: the young people gain from it and the community gains from it. However, there is a possibility that someone could be prosecuted because the law says what it does.

We are not talking about one small heritage railway. As the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, said, there are many; he mentioned the Ffestiniog Railway—if I pronounced that correctly. There is also the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, the Bluebell Railway, the West Somerset Railway, the Middleton Railway, the Spa Valley Railway, and many others. There is a long list.

This is a very understated thing. People have asked me why I signed the amendment from the noble Lords, Lord Faulkner and Lord Parkinson; I told them it was because we are dealing with real matters of the moment in the employment rights legislation. This is an opportunity to put right a small error in history. I invite everybody, if we go to a vote, to support this.