Employment Bill [HL]

I am sorry; I thought my noble friend was asking me to spell it out, if it is what I meant. I will move on to Amendment No. 13, which seeks to ensure that a party’s consent to a determination without hearing should be given only after he has had a reasonable opportunity to take independent advice, which is an entirely laudable and sensible proposition. The difficulty is in quantifying what is a reasonable opportunity for a party to seek that advice. When we discuss Amendment No. 14—which I hope will be shortly—it is our intention to establish in the tribunal rules that parties would be given at least 21 days in which to exercise their right to a hearing of their case. That time period will provide the opportunity for parties to seek independent advice, and it should also be open to parties to decide not to seek independent advice, which could have cost and time implications. Although I have, as it were, given way on Amendment No. 11, I think the noble Baroness can see that we are attracted by Amendment No. 13, but she will hear us argue that we want to do that through the tribunal rules rather than in the Bill.