Employment Law

Baroness Wall of New Barnet Excerpts

Monday 21st May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord De Mauley]

I thank my noble friend who is absolutely spot on. A number of measures will be coming forward that will contribute to that. One of those, which is perhaps not so relevant for smaller businesses, but which is indicative of what we are trying to do, is to involve ACAS at an earlier stage.

[Baroness Wall of New Barnet]

My Lords, I apologise for leaving shortly after the first two speakers; I nipped out to pick up the report. I agree completely with the noble Baroness on the Liberal Democrat Bench—I am sorry but I cannot remember her name—on the flexibility at Vauxhall that she reminded the House about. It is also important to remind the House not only about Vauxhall, but that over a period of real restraint, apprentices have been going to Jaguar Land Rover and many other organisations on their days off to have training. If that is not flexible, I am not sure what is. Red tape is possibly a good thing to look at, but I am anxious that the Government do so with the overall view of what modern workplaces look like. They are very different from perhaps the view that some noble Lords have of workforces. Flexibility is a way of life. That does not mean exploitation but co-operation and the way in which people work together. It may not be red tape but it certainly is a red ceiling. There is an opportunity to look at why women are not getting on further in their workplaces. I do not know whether it is red tape or how to describe it but it is a fact that women are still restrained in their grades and not allowed to go further. I welcome the opportunity for a comment from the Minister on that as well.

[Lord De Mauley]

I can find very little to disagree with in what the noble Baroness has said. I absolutely welcome the restraint that I know employees are exercising in this extremely difficult time. We really need and are grateful for their help where this is happening, and I agree with her that it is widespread. People are working beyond the call of duty, and that is a huge accolade for our workforce. We spoke earlier about the need for co-operation between workers and employees, and that must be for the good.

The noble Baroness asked about the Government’s aspirations for women in the workplace. She will know that there is a great deal of work going on and that the Government are very much focused on this as an important issue.