Clause 43 - Union learning representatives
Employment Bill
9:45 am
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
We now come to one of the more controversial matters in the Bill and I welcome the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills. I see that the Minister for Employment and the Regions has beaten a hasty retreat, and who can blame him when we come to less consensual and agreeable matters?
I hope that we shall have a stand part debate on the clause. One difficulty of Standing Committee procedure is that when there is a principled objection to a clause, the principle must largely be dealt with after debate on the minute detail of amendments. None the less, I will outline the Opposition's approach to the totality of clause 43, before addressing the specifics of amendment No. 216.
We unequivocally support collaboration between employers, workers and trade unions to secure proper training and learning in the workplace. In general, training is one of the great success stories of co-operation in British industry. In many cases, unions and employer work well together and the agenda is largely consensual. There are many examples of effective collaborative relationships in training between employers and unions. No one denies the benefits of training, or the role that trade union learning representatives play in workplaces. Apparently, there are about 3,000 trade union learning reps and, because schemes are not statutory and reps are there by virtue of agreement between employers and employees, one assumes that in most cases they are an effective and important part of the company's overall training programme.