This snapshot, taken on 04/06/2007, shows web content selected for preservation by The National Archives. External links, forms and search boxes may not work in archived websites.
Alan Johnson MPCouncil of Employment Tribunals Members Association |
 |
|
| (Click picture for biography) | |
I am delighted to be here today. It is an event which I have been asked to attend on a number of occasions and one which always makes for an enjoyable experience. My thanks to Mick Rawcliffe for inviting me to attend this year's meeting. It is on these occasions we have the opportunity to look back over the past year and to look forward to the challenges we will be faced with in the year to come. The Employment Tribunals – as ever – have been very busy over the past year dealing with what has now become the usual high level of applications. As well as the regular work there have been a number of initiatives from various quarters which will impact upon the Tribunals – ranging from new legislation to their inclusion in the overall review of the Tribunals system. The various initiatives make this a time of change for the Employment Tribunals - whether it be in dealing with the new jurisdictions which will flow from the Employment Act or when looking at the way in which the service is provided. It is important that we make the most of these initiatives and grasp the opportunity they represent. The last year has seen the Tribunals receiving a total of 112,227 applications - which although down on last year - is still up on previous years. However – we can take little comfort from the drop this year as forecasters tell us that the overall trend will continue to move upwards. Despite the downturn the continued high level of applications requires a substantial effort to deal with - and of course the cases do not get any easier. In the face of this the Tribunals have still managed to provide a high level of service and operate effectively. This is a considerable achievement and one which can only be achieved by much hard work and a high level of commitment from those involved. Can I say straight away - thank you to all those who are part of this achievement but particularly to the staff, lay members and the judiciary for all their efforts over the past year. Lay Member Recruitment I am particularly grateful that this commitment has been carried a stage further this year. Through CETMA and its Scottish cousin's, active and constructive involvement in this year's recruitment exercise for the appointment of new Lay Members. I had agreed at last year's AGM that we would involve CETMA in a new recruitment exercise. And I am pleased with the results. The Presidents were consulted last year to establish how many new lay members were needed. At pretty much the same time we had talks with Mick (Rawcliffe) about how we could make the best use of the expertise that rests within these Associations. There was one obvious area. A lesson learnt from the last exercise was that the interviews might have benefited from having an "existing" lay member on the interview panel. And that's what's happening. Thanks to the sterling work put in by Mick and Nanci (Downey) and Mike Rowe and Val Lockhart in Scotland, we have a pool of interviewers to draw from. Not everyone that offered to interview are being used. I am sorry. But we have tried to achieve consistency and continuity so as to ensure fairness to the interviewee. I am grateful for your members' willingness to help. And those interviewers have a big task ahead of them. The response for these vacancies has been high - over 4,000 applications for 244 appointments. We are interviewing around 600 candidates. The interviews started yesterday in Scotland and will continue across the UK through August and early September. To ensure that the quality of the new intake is high, it was crucial to identify an appropriate competency framework for prospective lay members. I think we have done that. And now your involvement will help us achieve the ultimate goal of selecting the right people for these important jobs. The appointment of the new members, together with the re-appointment of the existing lay membership should be complete by the end of October. Employment Act Last summer's 'Routes to Resolution' consultation outlined a number of proposals for promoting good employment relationships in the workplace. Following the positive response received to those proposals – and thank you for CETMA's response - legislation followed in the form of the Employment Bill which is now the Employment Act having received Royal Assent earlier this month. The Act represents a wide ranging package of measures and - amongst other things - provides for improved dispute resolution in the workplace and also makes a number of improvements to the procedures currently used by Tribunals. Employment Tribunals will of course need to take account of the new legislation as a whole but it is probably the introduction of statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures and the strengthening of Tribunal procedures which have a more direct impact on the management of the Tribunals. The Act introduces minimum internal disciplinary and grievance procedures - the idea being that they will help encourage employees to raise disputes with their employer before applying to a Tribunal. This will go much of the way to ensuring that there is a route within the workplace which gives both parties the opportunity to reach an amicable settlement of individual grievances without the need for litigation. The new procedures will also help encourage a healthier culture of communication and dialogue in the workplace and reinforce the view that making an application to a Tribunal is seen as a last resort rather than the first. This has got to be good for both business and employees alike. Further support to these provisions is provided by giving the Tribunal power to extend the period for applicants to present a complaint in circumstances where the internal procedures have not been completed. This will not only help to support the use of these procedures in the workplace but focus minds on the possible consequences of not doing so. Where a case does come to a hearing and there has been a failure to use the procedures the Tribunal will have power to vary any award by up to 50%. There is also a change to the way in which unfair dismissals are currently judged. The change will mean that employers who have followed the new minimum standard procedures will not be penalised solely for any failure to follow procedures which go beyond the minimum provided that following them would have made no difference to the outcome and the dismissal was otherwise fair. We believe this will provide a better balance between the substantive and procedural aspects of unfair dismissal cases. We have also looked at the delivery of tribunal services with a view to making the process faster and more efficient and the Act contains a number of measures to help achieve this. The respective Presidents of the Tribunals will have new powers to issue Practice Directions. The intention is that with standard directions to guide them Tribunals will be able take a more consistent approach to procedural decision-making. This in turn will provide some certainty to users that they will be dealt with consistently regardless of geographical location. The theme of giving the Tribunals greater ability to manage weak cases is one which was reflected in the changes to the Rules last year and which has been continued in the Act. It reaffirms the Tribunal's power to strike out weak cases and at the same time makes it explicit that cases of this nature can be struck out at a Preliminary Hearing Review. The power for Tribunals to deal with these cases more robustly will add to the efficiency of the Tribunals representing savings in both time and costs. The power to award costs will be extended to allow costs to be awarded directly against representatives in circumstances where proceedings have been improperly conducted. Additionally, there is a new provision which enables a tribunal to make an award to a party in respect of the time it has spent preparing its case, if the other party's case was misconceived or it has behaved unreasonably. In a system where self - representation is commonplace, this is a fairer basis for recompense that the present one which primarily covers legal costs. The new measures will take account of those representatives who provide their services on a not for profit basis. The powers of strike out and awarding of costs are of course subject to the discretion of the Tribunal in their use. Getting the right information from parties at an early stage of the proceedings has always been fundamental to the Tribunal's ability to progress cases quickly and efficiently whilst avoiding unnecessary expense. The Act provides the opportunity to build on current arrangements by giving the Secretary of State power to prescribe the form in which a party should present an Originating Application or Notice of Appearance. The use of a mandatory form will help ensure that both parties have more details about the claim faced and will also provide more information to the Tribunal at an early stage to assist the Tribunals case management decisions. Of course many of these provisions will take time to effect and consultation on the supporting regulations is expected take place in the Autumn. Your Members have a great deal of knowledge and experience to offer and I encourage CETMA to take part in the consultation. I'm sure the Members welcome any moves to give Tribunal panels the tools to better manage the cases which come before them. Any changes to the law are of course only as good as those who are tasked with applying those changes and it is you the Members who are key players in ensuring that they have a positive impact. We have already seen that the powers given to Tribunals by the Rule changes made last year have allowed Tribunals to deal with weak and vexatious claims more robustly. I hope that these new powers will enhance the Tribunals ability to deal fairly and efficiently the cases that come before them. Taskforce In October the Secretary of State announced a joint initiative with the Lord Chancellor to set up a Taskforce to look at how the employment tribunal system can be improved set against the background of rising caseloads. Over the last ten years we have seen a steady increase in applications from around 43,000 in 1991 to well over 100,000 in both of the last two years. Throughout that period of growth in applications the Tribunals have in many areas responded to the increase by creating additional regional offices and making working practices more efficient and indeed they have had to in order to keep up. However, there has been no fundamental review of the operational aspects of the Tribunals and of the structure and systems put in place many years ago. It is with this in mind that the Taskforce were specifically asked to look at ways in which the service can be made more efficient and cost-effective for tribunal users, and in particular to look at the operational aspects of the work of the tribunals as a whole. The work of the Taskforce also replaces the planned Quinquennial Review of the ETS. I know that throughout their consultations the Taskforce have been careful to ensure that the views of all those with an interest in the operation of the Tribunals were canvassed including those of the staff - judiciary and you the Members but have also been particularly mindful of the needs of users. This is an opportunity to shape the future of the Tribunals and for stakeholders and users to be directly involved in the development of a service which not only provides an effective employment tribunal system but also provides one that is adequately funded to meet the needs of users not just for now but for the future. I can say that I will do everything that I can to secure the funding needed to help ensure the service is not just adequate but is one which fully meets the expectations of its users. The Taskforce is due to publish their report and recommendations shortly and we will have to wait and see what that brings. I am confident that any recommendations they do make will be a positive step for the Tribunals. Leggatt We also await the conclusions from consultation on the Leggatt Report. The Lord Chancellor's Department expect to make an announcement this Autumn. I know that many of you contributed thoughts to the consultation process. As you are aware one of the options under consideration is the creation of a Unified Tribunal Service. We await the outcome with interest. It has been a busy year both in terms of the day to day work of the Tribunals and in terms of the initiatives which will act to change the way in which the Tribunals work. I hope that I have been able to give you greater insight into those changes. Finally - I would like to say thank you to you and your colleagues for all their hard work over the past year and wish you all the best for the year ahead. I am happy to take any questions. |
|
|
|
|
Other speeches by Alan Johnson MP
(the following are available from the archive) |
|
