The Minister of State, Cabinet Office () (Con): The noble
Lord asked a number of technical questions on the estimates, as
did the noble Baroness. The easiest thing for me to do is to look
at them in Hansard and write to them in answer, but I will make
two points. First, I understand that the guidance should be
online from tomorrow. I am sorry that it is not available today.
The normal course of events—the Commons starting on this first
and then us getting it—has perhaps meant that we have not had the
benefit of the guidance, but I will write and send the link to it
because that would be helpful. I also agree with him about the
changing nature of trade union membership. He will remember very
well that I worked at Tesco
a trade-unionised company, and spent a lot of time working with
the union in growing the company. Personally, I work very well
with civil servants and their unions. We need to minimise costs,
however, which is one reason behind the changes that we are
discussing today...
...In conclusion, I am confident that the regulations provide a
fair and appropriate intervention and capture an appropriate
scope to meet the policy aim. They allow check-off to continue,
as was agreed during the passage of the Trade Union Act 2016.
They represent a reasonable direction of travel and continue to
support productive industrial relations in the UK—which, Members
may recall, was my experience during my past career at Tesco
To return to the point that the noble Lord made, of course the
trade unions have a role to play in our society, so I am
delighted to have this opportunity to be at the Dispatch Box
today to put to bed the last of the regulations relating to that
Act. I hope that colleagues will join me in agreeing the
regulations, which I commend to the Committee....
