Employment Bill
9:30 am
Mr Alan Johnson (Minister of State (Employment and the Regions), Department of Trade and Industry; Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, Labour)
I beg to move,
That—
(1) during proceedings on the Employment Bill the Standing Committee do meet on Tuesdays at half-past Ten o'clock and at half-past Four o'clock and on Thursdays at half-past Nine o'clock and at half-past Two o'clock, except that on Thursday 6th December 2001 the Committee shall not meet at half-past Two o'clock and on Tuesday 8th January 2002 the Committee shall not meet at half-past Ten o'clock;
(2) the proceedings shall be taken in the following order, namely Clauses 22 to 29, Schedule 2, Clauses 30 and 31, Schedule 3, Clauses 32 to 38, Schedule 4, Clauses 39 to 41, Clauses 1 to 12, Schedule 1, Clauses 13 to 21, Clauses 42 to 48, Schedule 5, Clauses 49 to 51, Schedule 6, Clause 52, Schedule 7, Clause 53, new Clauses and new Schedules relating to requests for flexible working, remaining new Clauses, remaining new Schedules;
(3) the proceedings on Clauses 22 to 29, Schedule 2, Clauses 30 and 31, Schedule 3, Clauses 32 to 38, Schedule 4, Clauses 39 to 41 (so far as not previously concluded) shall be brought to a conclusion at 7 pm on Tuesday 18th December 2001;
(4) the proceedings on Clauses 1 to 12, Schedule 1, Clauses 13 to 21 (so far as not previously concluded) shall be brought to a conclusion at 7 pm on Tuesday 15th January 2002;
(5) the remaining proceedings on the Bill (so far as not previously concluded) shall be brought to a conclusion at 7 pm on Tuesday 22nd January 2002.
On behalf of the Committee, I welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Benton. This is the first time that I have served on a Committee under your chairmanship, and I am looking forward to it. As you have four daughters, you will be interested in the family-friendly aspects of the Bill, and you will also be an expert on dispute resolution. We are pleased that you will be chairing our deliberations. I look forward to the debates over the next couple of months; I am sure that they will be constructive and sensible. You see before you the crème de la crème of the Government Benches, loins girded and ready to go.
It is important that we consider the Bill in as timely a manner as possible. The programme resolution was agreed by the Programming Sub-Committee on 4 December. The end date of 22 January is sensible and allows 16 sittings to consider a Bill of 53 clauses and seven schedules, as well as any new clauses that may be proposed. The Government made it clear on Second Reading of the Bill that they would table one amendment.
Sixteen sittings should provide sufficient time for full scrutiny of the Bill, which has been widely welcomed as a balanced package. Its four parts, which cover several different aspects of the world of work, all have as a common feature the modernisation of the workplace and of workplace relations. The resolution proposes that parts 2 and 3 be considered before Christmas and parts 1 and 4 in the new year, a roughly equal split that allows equal time for consideration of each part.
I hope that members of the Committee will agree that our proposals are sensible, fair and reasonable. I ask the Committee to support the motion.