It is nice to be popular so that we can all go home. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Collins, for his Amendment 50, and I am glad to be debating with him again.
The amendment would place a number of conditions relating to workers’ rights that UK Ministers or devolved authorities would have to meet when intending to use the powers under Clauses 13, 14, 16 and 17 on retained EU law. That includes satisfying themselves that workers’ protections and employment rights would be maintained and that proposed new regulations would not conflict with existing international labour agreements.
The new clause would also introduce a new procedural requirement that Ministers would have to follow in order to be eligible to exercise the power. That includes seeking advice from relevant stakeholders, including ACAS and relevant trade unions, as well as publishing a report addressing specific points around workers’ rights and employment protections for the new regulations. The new clause would significantly delay and impact opportunities to review and reform any retained EU law, which might have an impact on working regulations.
I should say straightaway, as my noble friend Lord Callanan already has, that this Government have no intention of abandoning our strong record on workers’ rights, and nor are the delegated powers intended to undermine the UK’s high standards on workers’ rights.
Our high standards were never dependent on our membership of the EU. Indeed, the UK provides for stronger protections for workers. We have one of the highest minimum wages in Europe. Moreover, UK workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of annual leave compared with the EU requirement of four weeks, and we provide a year of maternity leave while the EU minimum maternity leave is just 14 weeks. Furthermore, on 10 May the Secretary of State committed to strengthening employment law, saving businesses around £1 billion a year from the reform of certain EU labour laws while safeguarding the rights of workers. These proposals do not remove rights or change entitlements but instead remove unnecessary bureaucracy in the way that these rights or entitlements operate, allowing business to benefit from the additional freedoms that
we have through Brexit. The proposed conditions on workers’ rights in the amendment are unnecessary, frankly, and would lead to a parallel call for provisions in other important regulatory areas to be excluded from vital reforms, thus undermining the whole purpose of Clause 16, which I stress is time limited.
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I turn to Amendment 51 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Hendy. This amendment seeks to insert a new clause to exempt from the Bill any retained EU law which is within scope of the labour and social levels of protection commitments set out in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. It also seeks to exempt retained EU law which may implement other internationally recognised labour standards set out in the TCA, including any convention of the International Labour Organization and the European Social Charter of 1961. It was good to hear from my noble friend Lord Hannan about his view of how things happened in Brussels, and his confirmation that our standards are a British thing.
As I have said, this Government have no intention of abandoning our strong record on workers’ rights, having raised domestic standards over recent years. That is why the UK remains a coveted destination for thousands of high-skilled workers across the world to come to live, work and do business, and we are committed to maintaining high levels of protection. That is why we made the commitments in the TCA and reaffirmed our commitment to the likes of the International Labour Organization. Nothing in the Bill undermines that.
Departments continue to undertake a thorough assessment of their retained EU law where it relates to TCA obligations. The TCA affirms the right of both the UK and EU to set their own policies and priorities for labour and social standards, as well as to determine the appropriate levels of protection. The Bill will enable us to do just that while continuing to comply with international law.
The noble Lord, Lord Hendy, raised some detailed points, as did the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, earlier. I will not delay the House by replying to them now, but I will set out the response, which is a powerful one, in writing. However, I will just talk about consultation.
There was a mention of consultation requirements for redundancies in SMEs. I assume that this relates to the TUPE regulations of 2006, which protect employees’ rights when the business or undertaking for which they work transfers to a new employer. Let me reassure the House that we will ensure that workers’ rights continue to be protected. That is why, on 12 May, we launched a consultation seeking views on reforms. We want to use this consultation, as part of an ongoing dialogue with business and workers, to set out an employment rights framework that will retain our global position as a dynamic, vibrant and flexible economy.
These reforms will be consulted on, as appropriate, as will future regulatory reform plans, in the course of normal policy development in this whole area. This is open consultation: ACAS, trade unions and others are all able to comment. I know that issues of worker
protection are important to noble Lords. They know of my own background at Tesco; I am proud that it was a good employer and that our success over many years was helped by the union USDAW.
However, we must not hamper sensible reform, particularly where, as with working time, there are a lot of complex recording and administrative requirements. The laws we may or may not reform—of course we will be selective—were all created in Brussels or Luxembourg and with very little scrutiny. I urge a constructive approach in this area. Noble Lords have heard our promises and I ask that this amendment is withdrawn.