Employment Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 23: 23: After Clause 6, insert the following new Clause— ““Restriction of frivolous proceedings (1) Section 33 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (c. 17) (restriction of vexatious proceedings) is amended as follows. (2) In the heading, after ““vexatious”” there is inserted ““or frivolous””. (3) In subsection (1), after ““persistently”” there is inserted ““or frivolously””.”” The noble Baroness said: I speak to this amendment on behalf of my noble friend Lady Gardner of Parkes. The purpose of the amendment is to add a new category of cases which could be disallowed under the meaning of ““frivolous””. I understand that my noble friend was responsible for the amendment which created Section 33 of the 1996 Act. Therefore, she has a particular interest in this issue. Although the section has been very valuable, unfortunately many misguided and mischievous cases have been brought. If the applicant is of a very persistent nature, they can be very repetitious and a waste of tribunal time and public money. My noble friend wishes to say that she is not entirely fixed on the word ““frivolous””; other phrases or words may be more appropriate. However, she feels that there is a need to strengthen Section 33 of the Act to deal with the misguided, mischievous and frivolous cases that are brought. She seeks the Government’s assurance that they are satisfied that the present section is sufficient to be effective without further amendment. I beg to move.