Lords Grand Committee
13 October 2026
Speaker dots
- Speakers in the chapter
- Colour: political group
- Grey: no group
Tap or click a chapter's dots to see names and groups.
Contents updated on 13 Oct 2026
Legend
Transcript markers
- text Sentence being played
- text Search result
- text Intervention cited by the link you opened
Click a sentence to play the video from that moment. Select text to quote it with the speaker, timestamp and link.
More options
Official source
Offset
Transcript offset
0s
Text size
Export
Replay
Versions of this video
Transcripts may differ slightly from one version to another.
Chamber House of Lords
00:00 - 00:10
Speaker 1
The first order is the Code of Practice on Access and Unfair Practices during the Recognition and Derecognition Process. Lord Leong.
00:10 - 02:08
Speaker 2
My Lords, I beg to move that the Committee consider the Code of Practice on Access and Unfair Practices during the Recognition and Derecognition Process. My Lords, I'd like to start this debate by sharing with the House why we are introducing this code for your consideration today. The Plan to Make Work Pay included a commitment to simplify the process for trade union recognition. The Employment Rights Act 2025 updates the legal framework for statutory trade union recognition, ensuring workers have a meaningful right to organise through trade unions. Last April, the requirement was removed for unions to demonstrate likely majority support at the application stage and to have at least 40% of the workforce supporting union recognition.
The 2025 Act also makes changes to improve access arrangements for unions and aims to deal more effectively with unfair practices during the recognition and derecognition processes. The Government is therefore updating the 2005 version of this code to ensure that all parties, including employers, workers, unions, understand how the legislative change on access and unfair practices affect them. My Lords, we consulted on the revised code from 4th February to 1st April 2026. The consultation asked for feedback on the clarity of updates to the legal framework, structural amendments from the Employment Rights Act and other changes to the code, including updated guidance to reflect modern work practices. A number of revisions to the existing 2005 code have been made following consultation.
02:08 - 03:12
Speaker 3
Previously, the 2005 version applied only to the recognition or derecognition ballot phase. Now the code reflects the changes made by the 2025 Act to access and unfair practices and applies from the point at which the Central Arbitration Committee, or CAC, accepts an application for recognition or derecognition. The code also sets out a clear timetable for negotiations on access: 20 working days from the date the CAC accepts a trade union recognition application. If no agreement is reached, the CAC will have 10 working days to determine a reasonable access agreement. Further, the code has been revised to reflect that the 2025 Act allows five working days after the close of the recognition ballot for companies alleging unfair practice to be submitted to the CAC.
The rest of the transcript is for Pro customers
Unlock the full transcript, chat, and every analysis feature with Polyfact Pro.