Sixth Delegated Legislation Committee
8 July 2026
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Sixth Delegated Legislation Committee House of Commons
00:07 - 00:50
Speaker 2
The draft Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026. Before we start, I've suggested to everyone that ladies and gentlemen can remove their jackets in this heat. So is it the wish of the committee that the draft order and the draft code be debated together? I will now call the minister to move the first motion and speak to both the draft order and the draft code. At the end of the debate, I'll put the question on the first motion and then ask the minister to move the second motion formally.
I call Minister Dearden to move the first motion.
00:50 - 02:09
Speaker 1
Thank you, Ms. Baz, it's a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon. I beg to move that the committee considers the draft Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026 and the draft Code of Practice on Electronic and Workplace Ballots for Statutory Trade Union Ballots. These were laid before the House on the 22nd of June 2026. The instrument and guidance that we are debating today relate to statutory trade union ballots under the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992. The instrument also corrects a minor error in relation to unfair dismissal legislation in section 105 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 to reflect the changes made in the Employment Rights Act 2025.
At present, the law requires almost all statutory trade union ballots to be conducted solely by post. This approach has not kept pace with the way people live, work, and participate in democratic processes today. It makes holding a ballot unduly expensive and time-consuming, and it can act as an unnecessary barrier to democratic participation in a union. This statutory instrument addresses that directly. It brings trade union balloting into line with modern, secure voting practices that are already widely used in other contexts, including by political parties and listed companies.
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