Employment Tribunals

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Levitt (Lab)]

I pay tribute to the noble Baroness for her work in relation to whistleblowers. It is incredibly important. The delays across the employment tribunal generally are unacceptable as far as all litigants are concerned, and that is why we are working to try to bring them down but also to ensure that access to justice is really something meaningful and not just words. For most one to two-day cases, we can still list cases in 2026, but there are very long waiting times in the south-east and London south. I take the point that she makes, and perhaps she and I could meet and talk about it further.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that managers and senior leaders of businesses need greater investment in the skills and ability to resolve workplace conflict at the earliest point, rather than letting those disputes fester and become entrenched? This would give a better impact on productivity, staff retention and business costs. What is being done to encourage that greater investment in skills in the workplace?

[Baroness Levitt (Lab)]

I first pay tribute to my noble friend for the work she does as chair of ACAS, and I agree with her about the importance of helping managers resolve issues before they fester. This was the point I was making earlier: we want court to be the end of the process rather than the beginning. I am very grateful to her for the work that her organisation is leading, which is intended to strengthen internal workplace resolution processes, including through an ACAS awareness-raising programme and strengthened internal resolution processes that aim to raise awareness for employers about conflict management and to increase the use of informal resolution before these disputes escalate.