Law Society response to Autumn Statement
Credit Easing
Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson says:
“The Law Society welcomes credit easing measures detailed
in today's Autumn Statement as they will benefit many high street
law firms that have struggled to obtain credit in the current
economic climate.
“If the measures achieve a 1 per cent drop in lending
rates to small businesses, as detailed in Mr Osborne's speech
today, then this will increase the supply of finance to many small
and medium sized firms.”
Immigration
“We're fully behind the Government's encouragement to
businesses of all sizes to adopt an export mentality, but at the
same time its own approach to immigration is hampering successful
firms' ability to employ highly talented individuals who can
support their export drive. This isn't the time to be giving the
impression that the UK is in any way unwelcoming to global
business.”
Employment
“The Law Society welcomes any simplification of
procedures, but not at the expense of clarity.”
(See commentary below for more detail on employment
measures).
Ends
Please contact Graham Capper, Law Society press office for more
details on 020 7320 5811
Commentary
Employment tribunal fees - The Government will shortly
publish a consultation on the introduction of fees for anyone
wishing to take a claim to an employment tribunal.
- We will provide a thorough response to this consultation but
our immediate concern is that fees (if deemed appropriate) are
proportional and do not represent an obstacle for access to
justice, especially for those of low means.
Compromise agreements - The Government will develop a
model agreement for use by smaller businesses, consult on a
legislative change to enable compromise agreements to cover all
existing and future claims, and rename agreements as
'settlement agreements'.
- We particularly welcome the decision to address the issues that
we highlighted so strongly to the Government earlier this year on
Section 147 Equality Act & Compromise Agreements. Clarity could
not come sooner for the benefit of employers and
practitioners.
Financial penalties - The Government will introduce
a provision for employment tribunals to levy a financial penalty on
employers found to have breached employment rights (payable to the
Exchequer), but will allow judges the discretion about whether to
exercise this power to ensure that employers are not penalised for
inadvertent errors.
- For threats to be not worth making, any sanction would need to
be an adequate deterrent in all cases, and not just the relatively
few occasions when the issue will be pursued.
Mediation - The Government will work with industry and key
stakeholders to change attitudes to mediation and embed it as an
accepted part of the dispute resolution process. As a first step,
the Government will explore with large businesses in the retail
sector how they might share their mediation expertise with smaller
businesses in their supply chain. The Government will also pilot
local mediation networks for small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs).
- We are to begin discussions with BIS next week on the role of
mediation in employment
Employment tribunal Rules of Procedure - Mr Justice
Underhill will lead a fundamental review of the employment tribunal
Rules of Procedure. In the meantime, the Government will change the
rules on witness statements and expenses, cost and deposit orders
and judges sitting alone in unfair dismissal cases.
- Simplicity is ideal but should not be at the expense of due
process and substantive rights. We keenly await and will feed into
Mr Justice Underhill's review. Angharad Harris (Chair, Employment
Law Committee- Law Society) has been invited to join the working
party.
Employment tribunal claims - The Government will require
all potential claimants to submit their employment tribunal claim
to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) so
that early conciliation can take place.
- We welcome measures to try and reduce unnecessary litigation
but this must be accompanied by appropriate funding for ACAS to
carry out any new pre-claim role properly and effectively. If this
does not materialise, it could have the effect of
strengthening the resolve for litigation.
Agency Workers Directive - The Government will examine the
paperwork obligations of the Agency Worker Regulations in 18
months' time to ensure that the practical arrangements for
employers are as simple as possible.
- The Law Society is generally supportive but this is conditional
on the maintenance of adequate protections for agency workers being
maintained.