Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will assess the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to amend the Employment Rights Act 1996 to include paralegals in the statutory list of relevant advisers in respect of compromise agreements.

Settlement agreements (previously known as compromise agreements) provide the ability for workers or employees to contract out of certain aspects of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Therefore it is important that individuals entering into these agreements have appropriate independent advice.

In 1998 Parliament amended the list of people who could give such advice, which was previously restricted to qualified lawyers. The list now includes trade union officials, employees or members and those who work or volunteer at advice centres provided that the trade union or advice centre, respectively, has authorised them as being able to do so. If a paralegal fell in to one of these categories they would be able to provide such advice.

The Government has no current plans to extend further the list of relevant independent advisors for the purposes of settlement agreements.