Lord Ashcombe

The government has committed to review the functioning of section 10 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 in its entirety. As part of this review, we will engage with relevant and interested stakeholders and publish our findings in Parliament. The review will start shortly and the government will write to interested parties in due course.

The current legal framework on the right to be accompanied has been in place for a long time. The framework aims to keep disciplinary and grievance procedures internal to the workplace. Expanding the types of organisations that could be involved in representing workers at discipline and grievance meetings could lead to these meetings requiring legal representation for both the worker and employer. This would invariably increase the cost of holding a hearing, add complexity and delays, and decrease the chance of amicable resolution as both parties become entrenched in a dispute.

The current legal framework on the right to be accompanied has been in place for a long time. The framework aims to keep disciplinary and grievance procedures internal to the workplace. Expanding the types of organisations that could be involved in representing workers at discipline and grievance meetings could lead to these meetings requiring legal representation for both the worker and employer. This would invariably increase the cost of holding a hearing, add complexity and delays, and decrease the chance of amicable resolution as both parties become entrenched in a dispute.

The current legal framework on the right to be accompanied has been in place for a long time. The framework aims to keep disciplinary and grievance procedures internal to the workplace. Expanding the types of organisations that could be involved in representing workers at discipline and grievance meetings could lead to these meetings requiring legal representation for both the worker and employer. This would invariably increase the cost of holding a hearing, add complexity and delays, and decrease the chance of amicable resolution as both parties become entrenched in a dispute.

The government aims to ensure our oil and gas workers and supply chain can take advantage of our energy transition, creating a global blueprint for a transition that supports prosperity, jobs, economic growth, communities and energy security.

In the North Sea Future Plan, the government committed to develop support for supply chain businesses, investors, and workers to help them benefit from a pipeline of projects across the North Sea and in the UK’s energy future. We are also developing a world-class North Sea Jobs Service to provide end-to-end support for oil and gas workers to move into growing industries.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) published analysis in September 2025 comparing the emissions intensity of domestically produced gas with imported liquefied natural gas. This analysis is available on the NSTA’s website. In 2024, domestic gas production made up 43% of gross supply, LNG imports accounted for 14%, with the remainder coming from pipeline imports – principally from Norway.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) published analysis in September 2025 comparing the emissions intensity of domestically produced gas with imported liquefied natural gas. This analysis is available on the NSTA’s website. In 2024, domestic gas production made up 43% of gross supply, LNG imports accounted for 14%, with the remainder coming from pipeline imports – principally from Norway.

We became a net importer of energy in 2004. Given the maturity of the basin, and the high proportion of future production projected to come from existing developments versus new developments and discoveries, further licensing in the North Sea would not reverse the basin’s natural decline.