Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (Tribunal Composition) Order 2009

My Lords, the adding of a fifth category, best summed up as cases relating to holiday pay where employment tribunal proceedings may be heard by an employment judge alone, completes some of the work outstanding from the Gibbons review, and is welcomed on these Benches. It has been 10 years since the last updating of this kind. Do the Government envisage any further changes to the rules on employment tribunal composition in the next few years? If the Government have in mind areas where this power might be used again in future, will they guarantee that a full and comprehensive consultation will again be carried out before any such proposals are brought to the House for consideration? My honourable friend the Member for Solihull raised concerns in another place about the initial decision on whether a full tribunal is necessary, and whether the decision can be reversed if a case appears more complex than was first thought. The guidance from the Minister suggests that the judge will take the decision, taking into account the views of both parties. Will the Government issue any guidance to employment judges to assist them in coming to a decision when one party prefers a full tribunal and the other prefers a single judge? As the Minister has indicated, there is a danger that the party against whom such a decision goes could feel aggrieved, particularly if they had sought a full tribunal and a lone judge was eventually selected. That could have damaging consequences for the rest of the tribunal hearing. We hope that such situations could be avoided as far as possible. If the Minister can reassure us on these matters, we shall be happy to support the measure.