Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Growth Plan 2022, published on 23 September 2022, CP 743, what recent discussions his Department has had with trade unions on bringing forward legislative proposals to require unions to put pay offers to a member vote.
Answered by Dean Russell
The proposals mentioned above will require Primary legislation. The Government intends to bring this forward when parliamentary time allows. The passage of any Bill will give trade unions the opportunity, via Members of Parliament, to share any concerns or constructive suggestion they may have on this policy.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of revoking the Working Time Regulations.
Answered by Dean Russell
We are proud of the UK’s record on employment standards, having raised domestic standards over recent years to make them some of the highest in the world. In leaving the EU we regained the ability to regulate autonomously, and the Government is therefore conducting a comprehensive review of all retained EU law to ensure that our regulations, including worker rights, are tailored to the needs of the UK economy and help create the conditions for growth and investment.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing no-fault dismissals for higher earners.
Answered by Dean Russell
The UK has a strong labour market. We now have over 730,000 more employees on the payroll than pre-pandemic and unemployment has fallen to 3.5%. We are immensely proud of our flexible and dynamic labour market, which allows businesses in every region of the UK to create jobs and increase participation. The UK also has one of the best employment rights records in the world, including one of the highest national minimum wages – larger than those in similar economies such as France, Germany and Japan. The government is always considering how we can improve the labour market.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with trade union officials since taking up the post on 6 September 2022.
Answered by Dean Russell
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s relationship with the trade unions is essential to developing and delivering our policies. Ministers and officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy engage regularly with the trade unions on a variety of issues.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reforms to the Transfer of Undertakings and Protection of Employment regulations on (a) pay and (b) working conditions.
Answered by Dean Russell
Changes were last made to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations in 2014. The Regulations were improved to make sure that they continued to provide appropriate levels of protection for employees, while making the process of transferring employees from one organisation to another as smooth as possible for the businesses involved.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of revoking (a) the Working Time Regulations and (b) other EU regulations on worker rights.
Answered by Dean Russell
We are proud of the UK’s record on employment standards, having raised domestic standards over recent years to make them some of the highest in the world. In leaving the EU we regained the ability to regulate autonomously, and the Government is therefore conducting a comprehensive review of all retained EU law to ensure that our regulations, including worker rights, are tailored to the needs of the UK economy and help create the conditions for growth and investment.
The UK has one of the best workers’ rights records in the world. In recent years, the Government has brought forward a raft of legislation on employment rights issues. In April this year, we made sure 2.5 million people across the UK received a pay raise by raising the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage. We have extended the ban on using exclusivity clauses to contracts where a worker’s guaranteed weekly income is below the Lower Earnings Limit, which is currently £123 a week.
Numerous Private Members’ Bills have been introduced on the matter of employment rights, and we are working closely with these members on their proposals. The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill and The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Bill have both passed their Second Reading with Government support and will continue to progress through parliament before receiving royal assent and becoming law in England, Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what impact assessment the Government has carried out for the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government carried out a consultation on revoking the ban on using agency workers to cover strikes in 2015. It received a large number of substantive responses from a wide range of stakeholders, including employers, agencies and trade unions which have been carefully considered before deciding to proceed with removing Regulation 7 of the Conduct Regulations 2003. In addition, these regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure. Parliament will have the opportunity to debate them before they are made and provide further feedback for the Government to consider, including on their impact.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what impact assessment he has carried out for the Liability of Trade Unions in Proceedings in Tort (Increase of Limits on Damages) Order 2022.
Answered by Paul Scully
We do not consider that a full impact assessment is necessary as the impacts will be minimal. There will be negligible familiarisation costs for unions and businesses. The impact of raising the limits on damages does not apply to unions that comply with statutory industrial action balloting and other statutory requirements. The impact of raising the limits would therefore only apply to those non-compliant unions that carry out or endorse unofficial strike action.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislation on the umbrella company market following his Department's recent call for evidence and consultation on that market.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government recently ran a Call for Evidence on the umbrella company market to ensure it has a detailed and up to date understanding of the market and how it is continuing to evolve. This Call for Evidence, which was issued jointly by HM Treasury, HMRC and BEIS, closed on 22 February 2022. Officials in the three departments are working closely together to consider the evidence submitted and the summary of responses will be published in due course.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 25 May 2022 to Question 3621, on Re-employment, by what date his Department plans to publish a draft for consultation of the proposed statutory code of practice on fire and rehire practices.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government remains committed to bringing forward a new statutory code on the practice of dismissal and re-engagement. As BEIS officials progress this work, they will be meeting with a wide range of stakeholders with relevant expertise.
We will publish a draft for consultation in due course.