Speeches by Smith.

“I will be brief in my response to these Government amendments, which make the requirement for the right to reasonable notice of cancellation or changing of shifts more onerous. I spoke to these principles during our debate on the previous set of amendments in my name, but I ask the Minister gently now, why were these p…”

“The amendments are intended to probe the Government’s thinking, as once again it is not clear to us in the Opposition whether they have done the necessary policy work to justify the approach taken in the Bill. The impact assessment clearly shows the administrative cost that the Bill will have in shift and workforce pla…”

“I beg to move amendment 145, in clause 2, page 13, line 25, leave out “a specified amount of time” and insert “48 hours”. This amendment defines reasonable notice of a requestor requirement to work a shift as 48 hours.”

“I am grateful to the Minister for that comprehensive outline of clause 1 but, as I reflect on our debate over today’s two sittings on the amendments to clause 1—the Government amendments that now form part of clause 1 and the Opposition’s substantive amendments, which were not accepted, and our probing amendments, whic…”

“indicated dissent.”

“I understand why, in our combative political system, the hon. Gentleman wants to bring up the previous Government’s record. I gently suggest that the covid pandemic had a big impact on all court backlogs, be it tribunals or otherwise, and I ask him to reflect on the fact that the Bill will add to the pressure on the tr…”

“Quite a list of amendments and edits to the 100-day-old Bill. I will start where the Minister left off. The amendments extend the time for employees to bring a case to the employment tribunal from three to six months if they believe their employer has breached the duties imposed by the Bill. That includes the provision…”

“Amendment 12 states that it is to be presumed by tribunals “that it was not reasonable for the worker’s contract to have been entered into as a limited-term contract” if the work done “was of the same or a similar nature” as the work undertaken by other employees, with the following conditions: “(i) where the period in…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. As a precursor to my comments on these specific amendments, I note that the sheer volume of Government amendments that we are considering really goes to show that the Bill might have met a political objective in being published in 100 days, but that it was…”

“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that the previous Government set the reference period at 12 weeks. What we do not have clarity on is whether the Bill will change that. Will the new Government shorten it or lengthen it? It is about clarity. This is a rushed Bill, published in 100 days. We do not have the answers …”

“It is certainly probing. Like earlier amendments, it is intended to spark debate so that we can understand where the Government sit on the issue, what is coming down the line and what businesses can expect in the real world once the Bill receives Royal Assent at some point next year. The last Conservative Government re…”

“That was quick, but go on.”

“This is the last group of Opposition amendments for a little while. Amendments 143 and 144 would specify the length of the reference period as 18 months. The RPC, which was widely referenced in the first set of amendments, has said that the Government have not justified why they are pursuing—”

“I beg to move amendment 143, in clause 1, page 3, line 17, leave out “with the specified day” and insert “18 months after the day on which the period began”. This amendment defines each initial reference period as being 18 months long.”

“I accept many of the Minister’s points about the consultation, but as my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater has made clear, there is a Henry VIII power here. When legislation as wide as this is proposed, it is a big problem to have such a lack of clarity about where it will lead for agency workers, who are such a cr…”

“There are just a couple more Opposition amendments to go before we get to some Government ones. Amendments 150 and 151 propose to exclude agency workers from the provisions on the right to guaranteed hours. The provisions in the Bill relating to agency workers are another example of the Government’s not having done pro…”

“I beg to move amendment 151, in clause 1, page 3, line 2, after “worker” leave out “(but see section 27BV for power to make provision about agency workers)”. This amendment is consequential on the amendment that removes the ability of the Secretary of State to make regulations to make provision for agency workers to ha…”

“I hope, from the nodding coming from the Government Front Bench, that Ministers agree with this. We will withdraw the amendment, but this point needs considerably more debate as the Bill progresses to ensure that while no loopholes for the unscrupulous are created, and that protections are there for employers around fi…”

“I accept the points made by the Minister, but I still think there is a relative concern. We in no way, shape or form want to create loopholes—certainly not for any unscrupulous employer, and I want that to be very clear and on the record—but we do totally accept that there are some very legitimate fixed-term contracts …”

“I beg to move amendment 152, in clause 1, page 3, line 2, after “not” insert “on a fixed-term contract or”. This amendment will exempt a worker on fixed-term contracts from being categorised as a “qualifying worker”. This too will hopefully be a relatively straightforward debate. The amendment seeks to exempt workers o…”