Speeches

Lord Hain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hain on 2016-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Welsh Government about its position that a number of clauses of the Trade Union Bill relate to devolved issues, and in particular regarding its position that (1) provisions in clause 3 regarding the 40 per cent threshold, (2) provisions in clauses 12 and 13 regarding facility time, and (3) provisions in clause 14 regarding check-off, relate to devolved issues.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Ministers have engaged with the Devolved Administrations on the Trade Union Bill.

As part of our engagement, Nick Boles, the lead Minister for the Trade Union Bill, has received four letters from Leighton Andrews, Minister for Public Services in the Welsh Government on 20 November 2015, 18 January 2016, 27 January 2016, and 9 February 2016. These letters related to specific aspects of the Bill and on the Welsh Government position on their applicability in Wales. On 5th February 2016 Nick Boles had a telephone conversation with Leighton Andrews on the Bill; and on 4 March, he replied to the letters and has placed a copy of the correspondence in the Library.

The Trade Union Bill relates to employment rights, duties and industrial relations, all of which are reserved.