Clause 26 - Determination without a hearing
Employment Bill
6:45 pm
Mr Alan Johnson (Minister of State (Employment and the Regions), Department of Trade and Industry; Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, Labour)
I disagree with the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge. I knew that Henry VIII was bound to make an appearance in our proceedings.
For the excellent reasons given by my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West, the measures are more appropriate for regulation than the Bill. The hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge wants the Bill to include a requirement that both parties agree before the dispute may be determined without a hearing, and I shall explain what the Government intend to do.
We intend that written consent will have to be received from both parties before a determination without a hearing can go ahead. The detail of the circumstances is more appropriately set out in regulations than in primary legislation. One of the requirements will be that the parties both agree, although that should not be permitted where a party subsequently seeks to withdraw consent for purely technical reasons. However, the regulations will further provide that any such consent should be informed; parties will have to seek advice on the consequences of consenting and regulations will specify those who may provide such advice, such as ACAS officers and independent advisers who may advise on compromise agreements.
An additional requirement will be that the tribunal itself agrees that the case is suitable for determination without a hearing, but it may not. The tribunal may decide that it is in the public interest for it to override the parties' consent if it considers that it needs to hear the parties before it is able to reach a decision or if the case raises issues of such public importance that there should be a hearing in public. The only exception to the requirement for both parties to give written consent will be where a case is uncontested. In such cases, the respondent will not have to consent to a written determination without a hearing if they have failed to take advantage of the opportunity to defend the case and have ''done a runner'', to use my hon. Friend's charming Wolverhampton phrase.
The Government resist the amendment, and I ask the hon. Gentleman to withdraw it.