-
Government-appointed body gives ministers the red card
on Strikes Bill for failing to provide sufficient
evidence
-
TUC says government is steamrollering Bill through
while keeping parliamentarians and public in the dark about the
true nature of legislation
A government-appointed body has today (Monday) given the
government’s impact assessment for its Strikes (Minimum Service
Levels) Bill the red card, and said it is “not fit for purpose”.
The impact assessment is expected to be published imminently, as
the Bill begins its passage through the House of Lords today.
The Regulatory Policy Committee - a group of independent experts
brought together by the Department for Business to examine the
impact of regulation on business and civil society - said the
government has failed to provide sufficient evidence in its
assessment of the legislation and instead relied on assumptions.
It slapped a rare “red” rating on the document.
The RPC says: “While the analysis that is included in the IA
is clearly set out, the Department makes use of assumptions in
the analysis which are not supported by evidence.
“We would expect the Department to provide a more detailed
description of the affected sectors and the costs to trade unions
alongside secondary legislation. In addition, it is not clear
that the IA considers all of the impacts of the new requirements
that will be introduced via the Bill.”
The RPC also points out that some of the evidence provided by
government is out of date – with some sources almost a decade
old:
“It is not always clear what evidence has been used, or the
continued relevance of that which is used (e.g., some sources are
almost a decade old), to inform the content of the IA.”
Ducking scrutiny
The RPC has also strongly criticised the government for failing
to produce an impact assessment for the Strikes Bill in time.
The independent government watchdog says the Business department
“did not follow its own policy for the timely submission of an IA
to the RPC for scrutiny, to enable Parliament to consider both
the IA and the RPC’s opinion.”
The TUC has accused the government of ducking scrutiny and
“shortcutting” normal scrutiny procedures.
If passed, the Minimum Service Levels Bill will mean that when
workers democratically and lawfully vote to strike they can be
forced to work and sacked if they don’t comply.
The bill gives ministers power to impose new minimum service
levels through regulation.
But consultations on how these regulations will work have not
been published, and parliamentarians have been given few details
on how minimum service levels are intended to operate.
The TUC says the new legislation will “do nothing” to solve the
current disputes across the public sector, and “only make matters
worse”.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:
“Ministers are trying to keep parliamentarians and the public in
the dark about this draconian legislation – which is a direct
attack on our fundamental right to strike.
“It is telling that the government’s own independent watchdog has
given ministers the red card on this Bill – and labelled it ‘not
fit for purpose’.
“Ministers must come clean about the true nature of this nasty
Bill. They must not be allowed to duck scrutiny.”
Commenting on far-reaching nature of the Bill, Paul
Nowak added:
“This spiteful legislation would mean that when workers
democratically vote to strike, they can be forced to work and
sacked if they don’t comply.
“It’s undemocratic, unworkable and almost certainly illegal. And
crucially it will likely poison industrial relations and
exacerbate disputes rather than help resolve them.
“The government is investing far more time and energy in
steamrollering this Bill through parliament than it is on
resolving disputes.
“Instead of scheming up new ways to attack the right to strike,
ministers should get pay rising across the economy – starting
with a decent pay rise for public sector workers.”
