I am grateful to the hon. and learned Gentleman for making an important point. If the Committee will allow me I shall go through what the schedule will do, as it relates to issues other than employment.

The schedule sets out what will happen when a local probation board ceases to exist during the transitional phase and, later, when business is transferred fromone provider of probation services to another. Itcovers transfers of property and staff under those circumstances, in each case enabling the Secretary of State to make a scheme setting out how the transfers will occur.

Paragraphs 2 to 4 enable the Secretary of State to make a property transfer scheme to transfer to him the properties and liabilities of a local probation board or relevant person—in other words, a provider of probation services. They also enable him to make a scheme to transfer property and liabilities in the other direction, from himself to a relevant person. In practice, probation boards do not hold significant assets. The probation estate, for example, is the property of the Crown and will remain so. Boards’ property is largely confined to office machinery, including workshop machinery for unpaid work, IT equipment and vehicles.

Paragraph 3 states that a property transfer scheme will take precedence over any other provisions that would restrict transfers. Compensation for the loss of right of reverter is to be paid by the transferor and/or transferee as appropriate, and the scheme may include a mechanism for resolving compensation disputes.

Paragraphs 5 and 10 are on staff transfer schemes. Our overall aim is to ensure that staff who transfer between providers of probation services have their terms and conditions protected by law. In many cases, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 will provide the appropriate level of protection. In cases to which TUPE does not apply, paragraphs 5 to 10 will enable the Secretary of State to make equivalent provision.

Paragraph 5 is intended to cover the various permutations by which transfers might occur. It enables the Secretary of State to make a scheme to transfer employees of a local probation board to another provider of probation services; to transfer employees between probation trusts or other providers, or to transfer employees from providers of probation services to the civil service and vice versa. In the circumstances that the hon. and learned Gentleman outlined, I would say that such an individual had resigned. It is important to note that a scheme may not be made unless any directions about consultation given by the Secretary of State have been complied with.

Paragraph 6 provides that when an employee is transferred under the scheme, his continuity of employment will be maintained and the rights, duties and liabilities of his previous employer transferred to his new one. An employee will, of course, be at liberty not to accept a transfer to a new employer, but in that case his contract will be terminated and he will not be treated as having been dismissed for the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996. In other words, he will not be entitled to compensation as he will be considered to have resigned.

Paragraph 7 makes similar provision in relation to employees of probation boards who transfer to the civil service and paragraph 8 does the same for civil servants who transfer to the employment of a probation trust or other provider. Paragraph 9 makes it clear that the schedule does not prejudice an employee’s right to terminate his employment if his working conditions are changed substantially to his detriment. Paragraph 10 states that if a contract of employment with either a board or a trust is not transferred to a new employer, the contract will be terminated and the employee will be treated as having been dismissed for the purposes of the 1996 Act. The employee would therefore be entitled to compensation.

I am aware of the concerns expressed by staffabout what the future holds and the implications for them as individuals. Such anxieties are entirely understandable, but I believe that the provisions in the schedule demonstrate our commitment to safeguarding employees’ position when any changes take place. I hope that the hon. and learned Gentleman will be happy with that explanation.