Speeches by Smith.

“Q127 Good afternoon, gentlemen. I will put the same question to you as I put to the other trade union representatives we have heard from so far. The Bill is wide-reaching. Some people from other trade unions have even suggested that it would re-unionise the economy, to use words we heard on Tuesday. Do you share that a…”

“What do you base that on? Nye Cominetti: Internationally, we can draw scatter plots of the employment level in a country and the extent of employment regulation, and basically those lines come out flat. You have some countries with very high employment and very high levels of regulation, and some countries with lower e…”

“Q I appreciate that you will probably put caveats around this, given your previous answer, but do you have a view on whether the Bill will ultimately—ballpark—result in more jobs in the economy, the same number or fewer? Nye Cominetti: The same number, would be my best guess.”

“Q Has the Resolution Foundation attempted to put a number on the impact on the economy, positive or negative, of this Bill? Nye Cominetti: No. I can describe in general terms how we might think about the potential impact, but I think any researcher or economist who tried to put a number on it would be misleadingly spec…”

“Well, the Regulatory Policy Committee has said that eight of the impact assessments for this Bill—the separate columns—are not fit for purpose. Do you think the Bill had its tyres kicked hard enough before it went into Second Reading and Public Bill Committee? Nye Cominetti: It is very hard to assess the impact of the …”

“Q Has the Co-op done any modelling of what the provisions in this Bill would cost the whole business? Claire Costello: Not yet, because there is not enough detail for us to do that. We are really keen to see what the more detailed asks look like.”

“Q On Tuesday, we heard a witness from a different trade union say that the Bill will lead to the re-unionisation of the economy. Do you concur with that assessment? If you do not, or perhaps even if you do, are there any areas in which your unions feel the Bill should actually be going much further? Liron Velleman: At …”

“Sorry, £30 million? Joanne Cairns: No, £13 billion. That was one of the more conservative estimates in the range that it looked at. That would be through reducing workplace stress, improving staff wellbeing, resolving disputes, reducing workplace conflict and increasing labour market participation. Liron Velleman: My n…”

“Q I am sure you are aware that the independent Regulatory Policy Committee has found the impact assessments on the Bill to be, in its words, “not fit for purpose”. Are you concerned that the impacts of the Bill on your members, or indeed on the wider economy, have not been properly assessed?”

“Q There has been a lot in the media, and I have seen this in my constituency, about workers in retail and convenience stores facing unacceptable abuse. Shoplifting is particularly problematic in many places at the moment. Do you think that some measures in the Bill will add to the difficulties in recruiting to the sect…”

“Please do. Helen Dickinson: A reference period is conceptually a good idea—the question is whether it is too short. I know that some people who appeared in front of the Committee earlier this week suggested that it should be slightly longer. I think requiring a business to offer the hours of that reference period in ev…”

“Q Thank you. Helen Dickinson? Helen Dickinson: Thank you very much for this opportunity. We are probably going to end up violently agreeing with each other, but let us see how we go. There is real alignment on the objectives of the Bill: to improve working practices, have the right culture between employees and busines…”

“Q What would be the ideal probationary period? Claire Costello: I think it is more about the fact that the Bill will drive more tribunals if people feel that they have a route to do that, so that might make people a bit reticent. There is also the timescale. We have a three-month probationary period, so nine months is …”

“Q91 Good morning to the witnesses. This quite far-reaching Bill will have a significant impact on your direct employees and the employees of the businesses you represent. We heard evidence in previous sessions that some of the Bill’s measures will make many businesses more reticent to take on new employees, and certain…”

“And on bereavement leave? Justin Madders: Again, that is something I am sympathetic to. I understand that the Women and Equalities Committee is undertaking an inquiry on that at the moment, and we are going to see what it says.”

“Q Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for this session late in the day. The Bill is multifaceted. It has a lot of measures in it. It could rapidly become a Christmas tree Bill. What do those you represent see as the good elements of it? More significantly, what are the areas that perhaps need amendment or chan…”

“Q What is enough time? Ben Willmott: We understand that the changes to the unfair dismissal regime in any new initial or statutory probation period will not come in until autumn 2026 at the earliest—that is the sort of timeframe you need to be thinking about. The other thing is that, because of all the other measures, …”

“Q Good morning to the witnesses. This is clearly a very large piece of legislation. Previous witnesses have said that perhaps it should be broken up. Do your organisations and those you represent think that it should be broken up? Is it too complicated? Is it putting too much on HR advisers, for example, in one swoop? …”

“Q Clearly, this is quite a thick Bill; it has lots of measures in it. If you were able to change any element of it, what would be your top priority? David Hale: There seems to be a big question about whether the Bill should be split up. It is a very large Bill. Overwhelm is the primary response. The second response is,…”

“Mr Hale, do you have a view on that perspective? David Hale: If the Government had a good process for the Bill, which I do not think they do, we would be exploring what the participation harm is. Part of that is not just whether firms choose to recruit, but who they choose to recruit. On the whether, from a small-busin…”