Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:22 pm on 19 October 2011.
My Lords, there is no aim to go back to what the noble Lord, Lord Martin, could rightly describe as the "bad old days". The industrial tribunals system will remain and people will still have access to it. We expect that the tribunals will have the power to order that unsuccessful parties reimburse the fee paid by the successful party so that costs are ultimately borne by the party which causes the system to be used. There is nothing in the system that does not say that a small proportion of the costs cannot be charged. We do not believe that that would fundamentally undermine the very good work that the tribunal system does.