Queen’s Speech

Baroness Turner of Camden Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Turner of Camden (Lab)]

My Lords, it is surprising that there is so little in the gracious Speech about employment law. During the lifetime of this Government, the employment protections which many of us have fought for for years have almost disappeared. It has now become almost impossible for a dismissed worker to sue for unfair dismissal at a tribunal. The proceedings are not only very complicated but very expensive; it can cost an employee about £1,000 to get a hearing. Accidents at work continue to happen far too frequently, particularly in the construction industry, but again suing has been made more difficult for the employee or his family. The Government have made it clear what they think about employment rights with their absurd scheme whereby employees abandon all employment rights in exchange for shares in the employing company. A number of us in your Lordships’ House opposed these measures when they were proposed here, but, unfortunately, without success.

We are told that the employment situation has improved, particularly in London and the south-east, but not I think for younger people. The same goes for older people, too. I have received letters from time to time from people over 50 years of age who have been made redundant. They desperately want to work again, but receive no replies to their job applications. This is particularly true for older women, as has already been pointed out. In other parts of the country, the situation is much worse. In the Midlands and the north there are areas where once the manufacturing industry provided work for whole communities, but the factories no longer exist to do so.

Clearly, there should be area renewal plans for such areas. Perhaps the Government will tell us what they have in mind, if anything, for these areas. But even where jobs exist, as in the London area, problems exist for poorer families. I am glad that the Government have agreed that the minimum wage must be increased and enforced. There is also more pressure for the living wage, which my party supports. Living costs in London have become impossibly expensive. There is a desperate shortage of affordable housing, as we have heard from other noble Lords, and in the mean time, despite the right to buy which has assisted some people, many poorer people are confined to rented accommodation in the private sector. There is a case for some intervention here. There is a need for more social housing to be built, as a number of noble Lords have said. This has been proposed by the London mayor, but it takes time, even if what he proposes is enough. This is a crisis, and there is therefore a reason to impose restrictions on the amount that may be charged for private rentals. I know of course that the Government are anxious to reduce the amount spent on welfare, but this becomes impossible if wages are too low and rents too high. This is currently the situation in London.

I have briefly set out the situation as I see it in London and the south-east, but there is another aspect which receives far less attention than perhaps it should. There is a lot of talk nowadays about the growing inequalities in our society. Many of us deplore this and wish that we could do something about it. Encouragement is given to community and voluntary organisations, and it is right that that should be done, but the largest voluntary organisations in this country are those built by the workers themselves. I refer, of course, to the trades unions. A recent survey indicated that one reason for the growth in inequality was a decline in union power. If that is so, I deplore it. But the Government certainly either ignore unions entirely or introduce legislation to make their functioning more difficult. This is a mistake. Unions have as their main function representing their members’ best interests, but they provide a range of other benefits to individual members as well, such as legal services to individuals in a situation in which legislation through LASPO has reduced access to legal aid for a whole range of issues, including employment and welfare.

Training and education are also areas where unions have been able to help members who have missed out in this respect earlier in their careers. The TUC’s Unionlearn has been widely praised for the training it provides. Many parliamentarians owe their education to union scholarships undertaken at Ruskin College, Oxford. I benefited from that provision through my union. Unions are increasingly becoming involved in community work and simply do not deserve the demonisation that occurs too often in the media, and the Government should simply ignore it.

The noble Lord, Lord Bamford, in a very good maiden speech, referred to the successful economy and high productivity in Germany. One of the reasons for that is the involvement of the unions in consultation, an issue with which we should be concerned in this country.

As has already been indicated, the proposals on pensions are extremely complicated. I was very interested to hear what my noble friend Lord Monks had to say about this, with which I agree. Retired people want a regular, reliable income that they can count on, perhaps linked to increases in wages. I am not certain that the proposals in the Bill will provide this.

As regards welfare, there appear to be difficulties in implementing the universal credit measures. The changes are already causing concern, particularly among disabled people. Again, this is something to which we must return when the House is ready to discuss the welfare problems that we all know exist. They would certainly benefit from further discussion by your Lordships.