Employment Bill [HL]

May I put a question to the noble Lord, Lord Bach? After his explanation and after hearing my noble friend Lord Wedderburn, it seems to me that paragraph (b) only makes sense if it reads, ““each party to the proceedings has the right to request a hearing but has decided not to exercise it””. Only then is it equivalent to deemed consent. As it stands, the wording makes it look as though paragraph (b) is redundant; but the Minister explained that it is not meant to be redundant and explained deemed consent, but the wording is not appropriate.