New Legislative Programme

Gordon Brown’s "new" Government has published its first annual statement outlining the legislation the Government intends to propose to Parliament in the next session. The purpose of the draft legislative programme is to be more open on its emerging priorities.

The draft legislative programme includes details about the proposed Employment Simplification Bill. The Purpose of the Bill is to simplify, clarify and build a stronger enforcement regime for key aspects of employment law.

The main elements of the bill are:

• Implementation of the outcome of the Gibbons review of workplace dispute resolution, including repeal of the statutory dispute resolution procedures and implementation of a package of replacement measures to encourage early/informal resolution and changes to the employment tribunal system;