Lord Hunt of Wirral (Con)

My Lords, we now move to consider the employment tribunal system. I shall speak first to Amendments 158A and 158B. The Government are extending the time limit for individuals to bring claims to an employment tribunal, but if that is the case, and if, as the Government have repeatedly said, they value early conciliation and the vital role that ACAS plays in resolving disputes before they reach litigation, then surely the same principle must apply to the conciliation period itself. Extending the early conciliation period from six weeks to three months would provide claimants and employers alike with more breathing space to resolve matters amicably, reducing the burden on the tribunal system and promoting quicker, less adversarial outcomes. I will also speak to Amendments 180 and 186. I will not repeat the arguments that I and many noble Lords across this House have already made about the state of the employment tribunal system, but let us be clear: the situation is now dire. We have spoken to a range of people involved in the system and hear the same message: employment tribunals are in disarray, with claimants waiting for up to two years for their cases to be heard. We believe that justice delayed is justice denied. The Government say they are investing in tribunals, pledging to hire more judges and providing additional funding, so I hope the Minister will be able to answer these questions. First, how many new judges have been appointed? Secondly, what is the scale of the funding and how will it be allocated? Thirdly, will the Government also commit to hiring more administrative staff to ease the backlog? If so, how many? Until we have clear, credible answers to these questions, we believe it is simply irresponsible to bring forward clauses in this Bill that will place even greater strain on a system that is already buckling under pressure. I just hope that the Minister will have answers to these and other questions. I will also refer to Amendments 186 to 188. We believe that there is this difficulty with the existing system and we have already seen the Government push back implementation of parts of this legislation to 2027. I do not know whether this is because they have at last had a moment of clarity and realised just how damaging some of these measures could be in practice. We now have an amendment asking to delay further until 2029. Frankly, this is not just reasonable; we believe it is necessary. A four-year delay might be the bare minimum to avoid the disasters which would otherwise be presented by this legislation. Let us not pretend this delay is some kind of political foot-dragging on the part of the Government. To seek to delay implementation until 2027 of what was said to be a vital Bill is an admission that this legislation is deeply flawed and that rushing it through risks wreaking havoc on businesses, workers and the tribunal system alike. What is more, with the Government and the unions now seeming less like allies and more like wary rivals, this delay might be something the Government are willing to accept. I beg to move.