Schedule 3 - Transfer schemes
Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill
Public Bill Committees, 23 June 2005, 2:00 pm
Jim Knight (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)
I want to speak very briefly on this for the benefit of staff, in many ways. Schedule 3 to the Bill allows the Secretary of State to make transfer schemes to provide for the transfer of property rights or liabilities that would not otherwise be capable of being transferred or signed.
Schedule 3 schemes can cover the rights and liabilities under contracts of employment that are transferred by virtue of a scheme. This is the point that I wanted to make sure was clarified: the transfer of staff will be carried out so that staff are protected and they do not suffer detriment to their employment rights as a result of that transfer. That will be accomplished through the transfer of undertaking regulations principles and in accordance with the Cabinet Office statement of practice.