A report by the government adviser and venture capitalist, Adrian Beecroft was leaked last week.

It follows on from recent government proposals to reform the current laws on unfair dismissal, in particular, increasing the qualifying period from one year’s continuous employment to two years.

The Report

The report highlights the government’s concern about the amount of ‘red tape’, which is said to burden small and medium sized businesses, particularly those who do not have the expertise to deal with complex employment matters.

Amongst those targeted are lazy workers. The report centres on workers who are allowed to “coast along” by employers fearful of the legal consequences for taking any action.

The current law already allows employers to dismiss lazy workers. The employer is required to show that the employee is underperforming and acts fairly in response by giving the employee an opportunity to rectify the situation. In practice, the process can be lengthy and cumbersome for an employer of a small business to manage. The employer also runs the risk of an Employment Tribunal claim and significant compensation. 

In contrast, the leaked Beecroft report recommends that employers should be given the right to sack underperforming workers without reason, and find more capable replacements.

Proposed reforms

The report advocates a replacement for incapability dismissal, namely, the Compensated No Fault Dismissal. This would enable employers to sack unproductive staff with basic redundancy pay and notice. One “downside” admitted by Mr Beecroft in relation to the proposed new scheme is that employers would be able to fire staff because they “did not like them”.

Mr Beecroft believes that this is a price worth paying in exchange for all the benefits that would result from his proposed reforms such as an increase in business growth which would prove a major boost for the job market.

Reaction

The proposed reforms have met strong resistance, in particular from trade unions. There is the feeling that if Mr Beecroft’s proposals are implemented, employees would be deprived of basic protection. Every single employee would be in a position where their employer could arbitrarily terminate their employment. Norman Lamb, chief advisor to Nick Clegg, said that “the impact that could have on consumer confidence and the fear of losing ones job, would be potentially very damaging”.

Comment

In my view, the Beecroft report is somewhat short sighted to single out workers for the inefficiency of business productivity. Other factors are likely to include poor investment, poor training and poor management.

There is nothing to suggest watering down employee rights would create any more jobs and it could be argued the job insecurity it would create would be bad for the economy. Whilst, the report focuses on lazy and underperforming employees, in practice, the proposed changes could also affect hardworking and competent employees.

Potentially, any employee could be dismissed and unless they could prove an element of discrimination (as legislation in this area is being left untouched) employees would have no entitlement to receive compensation for loss of earnings.

On the other hand, the Report recommends that an employer is obliged to pay a basic award (the equivalent of a statutory redundancy payment) for those employees who under current law it could fairly dismiss in certain circumstances. 

By removing the traditional route for unfair dismissal claims, we could see a trend developing whereby employees file increasing numbers of discrimination claims through the backdoor.

There is also a risk that the proposed changes could encourage bad and lazy management. The proposed changes do not allow for the possibility that the employer may be at fault. Under the Compensated No Fault Dismissal, a manager or employer could shift the blame to its employee and recruit someone else.

Perhaps there are better ways to meet the Report’s aims, such as introducing fees (and / or costs penalties) for lodging Employment Tribunal claims, which should deter those claimants with weak claims.

It would be interesting to hear the comments of local businesses on the leaked report. Would you welcome the proposed changes?

Mark McKeating, solicitor at Hill Dickinson LLP, 0151 236 5400 or mark.mckeating@hilldickinson.com.

Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) & University of Liverpool Conference Northern Futures? Responses to the Coalition Government’s Policies and their Impact on the North

Thursday 10 November 2011 l Victoria Hall, University of
Liverpool, 1 Brownlow Street, Liverpool L69 3GL

Eighteen months after the general election, this conference will take stock of the Coalition Government’s proposed policy changes – including regeneration funding and the radical reforms to planning, housing and benefit provision – and explore how communities, local government, universities and businesses in Northern England can get the best outcome.

The conference will build on the growing set of analyses of the interaction between housing, regeneration and planning reforms and the potentially significant consequences for the future of England. Regional planning structures are being removed, and the delivery of housing and investment is now focused on a model of financial incentives, such as the New Homes Bonus.

The  Treasury’s ‘Plan for Growth’ illustrates a major change in Government investment and regeneration policy, to focus on areas of high market demand, rather than those of lower demand with potentially greater social needs.

There is a growing commentary on the impacts of these changes – not just the impact on
places where regeneration funding has been cut, but the wider impact of mechanisms such as the New Homes Bonus in redistributing Rate Support Grant from Northern metropolitan areas to Southern areas of higher growth. Such outcomes have re-ignited interest in spatial inequalities and in whether, over the last 30 years, public investment patterns have mediated or exacerbated regional disparities.

As well as establishing the current political, policy and economic factors shaping the country’s future, the conference will also seek to create constructive recommendations about how England can reach its full potential, recognising that a prosperous London and South East requires a prosperous nation as a whole.

This one-day conference is structured in two parts.  The first session will look at the existing impacts of the reform process and will provide an assessment of current and expected impacts on communities through a series of high-profile keynote speakers and a one-hour interactive debate which allows the opportunity for direct and powerful discussion on the future of the North and securing a prosperous nation.

The second session will pose creative questions about how to respond, both in the short term and in the wider context of England’s future.  The debate will focus on the kinds of governance, regulation and investment which might be required to build a more efficient and fairer distribution of opportunity across the nation. In particular, it will focus on the prospect of private sector investment replacing public sector regeneration finance.

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Liverpool Chamber members are urged to attend an extremely important meeting on 21 October in the Council Chamber at Old Hall Street at 3pm.

Liverpool City Council is currently preparing the Council budget for 2012 - 15 and as part of this process is consulting with key stakeholders, including Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.

The Council Leader is publicly committed to supporting business growth but is facing some extraordinary challenges in respect of service delivery, enforced savings and planned changes in the way local business taxes are used.

This will be a unique opportunity to meet and question the City Council’s most influential people including Councillor Joe Anderson, the Leader of the Council; Councillor Paul Brant, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources; Ged Fitzgerald, Chief Executive and Peter Timmins, Director of Resources of Liverpool City Council, all of whom will be attending to brief Chamber members and respond to questions.

Please respond via email to maresa.molloy@liverpoolchamber.org.uk

We do hope you will support the Chamber at this event. Coffee and light refreshments will be available in the Council Chamber from 2.30.

Thursday 27 October, 6.15pm, Anglican Cathedral, Hope Street

There is a growing feeling that the mainstream banking system is broken. The unrelenting pursuit of profit coupled with seemingly ambivalent attitudes toward risk and sustainability have served to detach big banks from the communities in which they operate and the individuals most in need of their help. Does this lack of social responsibility matter and what can be done to promote fairness in finance?

Lord Whitty, outgoing Chair of Consumer Focus, will talk about the state of financial exclusion today and why it matters. He will ask how effective recent measures to fight financial exclusion have been for the individual and ask whether financial inclusion can help build a fairer society and stronger communities. Should the mainstream banks play a greater role in ensuring fairness in finance and how might this be achieved?

Frank Field MP, Labour MP for Birkenhead, Chair of the Independent Review on Poverty and Life Changes, (published 2010) and Minister for welfare reform 1997-8, will discuss the impact of financial exclusion in Liverpool and the Merseyside area and consider measures taken by organisations such as as RBS, Charity Bank and Credit Unions to improve financial inclusion. He will chair a round table discussion with Roy Morris DL, High Sheriff of Merseyside 20010-11, Ian Foster, Regional Director, RBS, Caroline Mason, Chief Operating Officer, Charity Bank and Lord Whitty.

An informal reception will follow the event from 7.45pm

Tickets are free, booking is essential.

Monday 26 September 2011, 12.30pm-2pm
Blue Bar
Albert Dock
Liverpool
L3 4AE 

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) invite you to a question and answer event being held as one of the fringe events for the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

Points for discussion will include:

• What role will business play in driving the recovery forward?
• Will the private sector be able to produce the growth needed to counterbalance public sector cuts?
• Is the government doing enough to give businesses the confidence to expand and create jobs?

This will be followed by a Q&A session, opening the discussion to the audience. We intend to keep the session as lively and interactive as possible and the Chair will direct audience questions to panellists accordingly. The BCC’s new Director General, John Longworth, will also make brief introductory remarks.

Speaker biographies:

Dr Adam Marshall
Director of Policy and External Affairs, British Chambers of Commerce

Adam Marshall was appointed Director of Policy and External Affairs at the British Chambers of Commerce in July 2009. Adam represents the interests of the Chamber of Commerce Network - with 53 accredited Chambers and over 100,000 member businesses across the UK - in Whitehall, Westminster and the media.

Prior to joining the BCC, Adam was Head of Policy at the Centre for Cities think-tank. During his five years at the Centre (2004-2009), Adam played a central role in the organisation’s start-up and spin-out from the Institute for Public Policy Research. He also led work on city leadership, transport, local finance, and economic development.

Previously, Adam also worked for the Cambridge-MIT Institute (2003-2004), and in local politics in his native Washington DC. Adam holds a BA from Yale University, and MPhil and PhD degrees from the University of Cambridge.

Peter Marks
Chief Executive, The Co-operative Group

Born in Bradford, Peter Marks has spent his entire working life within the Co-operative Movement, having originally joined what became Yorkshire Co-operatives in 1967 as a management trainee in the food retail business.

In his career, Peter has managed a tremendous variety of businesses and functions, including food, travel, department stores, funerals and HR.

Following the acquisition of Somerfield and the merger with the Britannia Building Society in 2009, the Co-operative Group now has an annual turnover of around £14bn, operates 5,300 food, banking, pharmacy, travel, funeral and motor outlets and is the UK’s largest mutual business. The Group employs 110,000 people and is owned by its six million members.

Chuka Umunna MP
Shadow Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills

Chuka Umunna was elected as Member of Parliament for Streatham in May 2010, becoming the first MP for the constituency to have grown up in the area.  In May 2011, Chuka was appointed by Ed Miliband as Shadow Minister for Small Business and Enterprise in Labour’s Shadow Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) team, led by John Denham. In this role, he leads on small business issues, business support and access to finance, corporate governance, deregulation and economic growth.

Born in October 1978, Chuka studied Law at the University of Manchester and the University of Burgundy, followed by Nottingham Law School. An employment law solicitor by profession, prior to his election Chuka worked at a law firm primarily acting for employees but also employers, having trained as a solicitor at a City law firm.

Chuka is a board member of Generation Next, a not for profit social enterprise providing activities for young people in London. He is a member of Compass, the Fabian Society, GMB and Unite. He is also a patron of Latimer Creative Media, a social enterprise which trains young people in digital media and a supporter of Cassandra Learning Centre, a charity raising awareness and working to stop domestic violence.

The Campaign for High Speed Rail will be at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool (25-29 September 2011). They will have a stand for people to learn more about the benefits of High Speed Rail (HSR), plus they will be hosting an event. 

The event details are as follows:

Railways: operating more efficiently and delivering an increase in capacity through HSR

This year, Transport Times is collaborating with FirstGroup and Bechtel to produce Rail Fringe events at all three main political party conferences.  All fringe events are free of charge and are located outside the secure zone so attendees will not require a pass to attend.

Labour Conference event
Wednesday 28 September, 13.15 - 14.30
Hilton Hotel, Grace Suite 2, 3 Thomas Steers Way, Liverpool, L1 8LW
Speakers: Maria Eagle MP, Shadow Transport Secretary; Lord Adonis, Director, Institute for Government; Tim O’Toole, Chief Executive, FirstGroup & Chairman, Rail Delivery Group;Lawrie Quinn, Delivery Manager – Rail Projects, Bechtel (chair); Prof David Begg, Director, Campaign for High Speed Rail.

There’s no need to book. Just turn up and learn more about this issue and have your say.

Some of you may have picked up from the national press that there is currently a Government consultation open on High Speed Rail (also known as HS2).  This is a new high speed line that would run from London to Birmingham.  

Liverpool Chamber believes that a national high speed rail network offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the way we travel in Britain.  If we don’t get a line to Birmingham it is unlikely that it will ever reach the NW and Liverpool and we are approaching full capacity on our existing line. 

A new high speed rail network would transform the country’s economic geography. It would bring our key cities closer together, enable businesses to operate more productively, support employment growth and regeneration, provide a genuine alternative to domestic aviation, and create a platform for delivering long-term and sustainable economic growth and prosperity.

Phil Hammond MP, Secretary of State for Transport has warned today that the “no” campaign being run from the Chilterns is predominate in the argument.  Today we would like to urge colleagues, businesses and members of the public to make our voice heard and vote yes to HS2!

Register your support for High Speed 2 at www.campaignforhsr.com Go to “join our campaign” and fill in your details for your vote to count.

7 July, Racquet Club

Join Equality Minister Lynne Featherstone MP for a lunchtime discussion on Employment Law and difficulties for small businesses.

From April 2011 until April 2013 the government aims to review over 21,000 statutory rules and regulations that are active in the UK today. The priority will be to focus on regulations that place the biggest burdens on businesses and society.

Regulation can be reviewed on the Red Tape Challenge website http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk

In addition to the feedback received via the website, Ministers are also conducting some visits with businesses to further their understanding of how these regulations impact on business activity.

On the 7 July 2011 we will be hosting a lunchtime (12.30-1.30) event with Lynne Featherstone MP – Equality Minister at the Racquet Club, 5 Chapel Street, L3 9AG. 

We would be delighted if you could join us.  We will host the meeting over a buffet lunch and some areas for discussion include the following:

Points for discussion:

• How aware are you of your equality law obligations?
• What is your view on employment regulation in general?
• Have you ever faced a Tribunal claim? How did you deal with this?

This event is aimed at owner managers, HR managers or legal profession only.

If you would like to attend, please email policy@liverpoolchamber.org.uk or call the Policy Team on 0151 227 1234

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the Bribery Act 2010 will come into force on 1st July 2011. The Act will replace the UK’s existing anti-bribery and corruption legislation, which has been criticised for being overly complex and, until recently, rarely enforced.

The Act will give the UK some of the toughest anti-bribery legislation in the world and any multinational business with a UK presence will have to make significant changes to the way they operate in order to avoid criminal corporate liability, potentially ruinous fines and possible damage to reputation and share price.

The Act creates four new offences which in broad terms are; a general offence of paying a bribe (section 1), a general offence of accepting a bribe (section 2), a specific offence prohibiting the bribery of foreign pubic officials (section 6) and a corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery (section 7).

In a recent justice case in the UK, Lord Justice Thomas (Deputy Head of Criminal Justice) made it clear that corruption is at the top end of serious corporate offending. It’s therefore no surprise that the Act will raise the maximum jail term for an individual from 7 years to 10. Further, a company convicted of failing to prevent bribery under the Act will face unlimited fines.

In the light of the UK Government’s commitment to tackling international corporate corruption, it is likely that we will see more cases of international corruption in the UK criminal courts. As a result, it is recommended that all corporations, especially those that operate in high risk jurisdictions, understand the Act, the recent guidance and take appropriate action to update their systems, controls and business practises to ensure compliance.

Lesley Batchelor from Trade International Digest gives some suggestions as to what businesses can do about the Act.
It is essential that every level of the organisation, contractors and suppliers are made aware of the policy and its contents. The policy should not only clearly restrict any form of bribery, but also give guidance on the appropriate levels of gifts and hospitality that can be given ( or received) and make clear the route for whistle-blowers to make their concerns known.
As regards to gifts and hospitality, the guidance highlights that “reasonable, proportionate” hospitality and promotional expenditure “made in good faith [as] an established and important part of doing that business” will not be considered a breach of the Act.
The 45-page guidance document can be downloaded from http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/making-and-reviewing-the-law/bribery.htm
If interested in learning more about the Act the Chamber may be able to offer a workshop covering it in more detail, looking at how it will affect you and your company.

Thursday May 19th
12 noon- 430pm, food from 12-1pm
The Megacentre, 241 Vauxhall Road, Liverpool, L5

The recent withdrawal of Housing Market Renewal Grant has left Liverpool with less money to regenerate its housing stock.  Liverpool has many socially-owned houses previously earmarked for demolition but now with the prospects of a new or extended life.

This seminar will look at how bringing empty homes back into use, retrofitting them for energy efficiency could increase housing stock and create more sustainable communities where people will want to live. 

It will also explore how using social enterprises and local providers, and  retrofitting them could deliver training, employment and business opportunities for local people in this new emerging sector.

It will explore the implications for the economy more widely and how a large-scale retrofit program of Liverpool’s building stock could help make Liverpool a leader in this sector.

Speakers:
Peter North, University of Liverpool and Low Carbon Liverpool
David Ireland- Chief Executive, The Empty Homes Agency
Charlie Baker- Urbed
Mark O’Reilly- The Apollo Group/Ecofit
Jon Morris- Localise West Midlands & Matthew Rhodes- Managing Director, Encraft
Aileen McDonnell– B4Box (Manchester) tbc
Giroscope (Hull)- tbc

Book your free place online here