June 2006
In our update this month we look at developments on the Employment Law and HR horizons over the last two months. There is no doubt at all that the biggest issue at the moment is the forthcoming regime on Age Discrimination coming into force on 1st October. We still have a very full analysis of the provisions which you can access here.
Our next subject for detailed analysis will be stress and bullying in the work place.
Age Discrimination
According to a report from the BBC News Service a recent survey of employers by the Age Partnership Group, shows that large employers are welcoming the legislation as they believe it will help with staff retention. Small employers are rather less keen. The disparity is most marked with staff retention. 64% of large employers expect new age legislation to help, against 32% of small and medium size enterprises. The DTI has produced some detailed fact sheets on age legislation which can be accessed here. Elsewhere, predictions from Consult GEE suggest that girls under 16 becoming pregnant will be eligible for maternity pay. Subject to restrictions, children can work from the age of 13.
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ACAS
The changes introduced to the tribunal procedures following the introduction of the statutory Discipline and Grievance procedures have had a significant impact on the way in which ACAS under takes its work. The Government’s aim in introducing the procedures was to reduce the number of cases reaching a tribunal. As a very short term objective, this appears to have been successful, but the reduced involvement of ACAS is possibly costing the Government money. The tribunal service was costing the Government £69,770,000 by 2004/2005, an increase of £26million on 1989. The cost per case where ACAS is involved and broker a settlement is significantly lower. The average cost disclosed in the tribunal service 2003/2004 report of cases heard was just under £2,000, but where the case was mediated by ACAS, the cost was £393.
ACAS has published a discussion paper which can be accessed here.
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Alcohol Abuse
A survey reported by the Workplace Law Network suggests that the lunchtime pint is in decline. Nearly half of all businesses ban drinking during the day. The HSE calculate that alcohol is involved in 1 in 4 industrial accidents, whilst Alcohol Concern estimate that 17million working days lost in Britain are due to excessive drinking.
It should be noted that the survey was conducted before the World Cup.
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Bullying and Harassment
The NHS employers group has issued guidelines to management to assist with the handling of bullying and harassment in NHS Trust hospitals. A survey had disclosed that significant problems existed in the NHS Trust organisations with 10% of staff reporting being the victims of it. The guidelines can be accessed here.
A centre for the victims of bullying has been opened in Slough (ironically the location for Ricky Gervais’ Comedy “The Office”). The centre was opened by Fiona McTaggart who is Home Office Minister. An AGI Oldfield director said that only 4% of tribunal cases alleging bullying are successful.
A deputy head teacher at a primary school in Plymouth won her case for constructive dismissal. Sue Preston who was employed at the Cathedral School of St Mary said that her headmistress, Catherine Maltbaek made her life “a total misery”. The tribunal heard from an independent investigator that the headmistress’ behaviour was “the worst case of bullying in the work place” she had ever seen. The tribunal chairman indicated that she was likely to receive the maximum statutory compensation of £56,000. Four other members of staff had allegedly been driven out by the headmistress. Following the report of the case, the national bullying helpline received more than 100 calls in 2 days from staff in schools alleging they were the victims of bullying.
Whilst an award of £56,000 is likely to represent a serious cost to the education authority, bullying or sexual harassment in the United States is potentially a much more expensive proposition. The President of Toyota North America, Hideaki Otaka and the company itself are the subject of a complaint in the superior court in Manhattan. The complaint was brought by Otaka’s former assistant, Sayaka Kobayashi who is claiming $40million for emotional distress and $150million for punitive damage.
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Trade Unions
According to a report from the TUC, many of the advances in workplace rights taken for granted would not have become law were it not for the membership of the European Union. The TUC believe that the protection formed by European legislation is the best defence to the downside of globalisation.
Elsewhere the TUC issued a report from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions documenting wide spread abuse of workers trying to enforce trade union rights. Abuses were highlighted in Countries as far apart as Burma, Moldova and Turkey. The report makes depressing reading and can be accessed here.
Elsewhere the Transport and General Workers Union have joined with Amacus in urging a boycott of Peugeot and Citroen cars following the announcement of closures of the Ryton plant at Coventry.
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Discipline and Grievance
The Employment Lawyers Association, of which we are members, has conducted a survey of its membership to assess the reaction to changes introduced by the statutory discipline and grievance procedures which came into force on 1st October 2004. The changes were intended to reduce the number of tribunal claims and facilitate internal resolution. The survey shows that 71% of employment lawyers believe that the procedures did not facilitate in-house settlement with 81% believing that the new conciliation procedures did not assist settlement. The survey suggests that the number of claims will begin to rise again after a temporary lull.
We have looked at the case of Shergold v Fieldway Medical Centre in our analysis of discipline and grievance procedures. However, it is not the only case involving Shergold v Fieldway Medical Centre. Nicola Shergold’s mother, Vanessa, also took the employer to a tribunal saying that she was forced to quit by the treatment at work. However, her claim was rejected by the tribunal as she had failed to raise a grievance. In particular the tribunal said that the letter of resignation did not actually refer to the instances which she later relied on.
Many employers would assume that a manual worker being photographed asleep on the job would justify dismissal, but a tribunal in Brighton ruled that Steven Lord was unfairly dismissed from Parker Building Supplies having been photographed asleep in the staff canteen. Lord said that he had told his manager that he was feeling unwell and had been told to go and lie down. Having initially refused, he later went off to rest. The tribunal held that the company had not followed correct disciplinary procedures and that it had failed to set out the allegations in writing against Mr Lord and did not offer the right of appeal. The decision highlights the need to follow correct procedures. In a case in the Ashford Employment Tribunal where we acted for the claimant, the tribunal held that George Wilson Construction Ltd were guilty of automatically unfair dismissal for terminating the employment of their site manager without any investigation. Compensation was increased by 50% to reflect the lack of procedure. The judgement shows how tribunals will interpret the new regime and can be accessed here.
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Disability
The CIPD’s labour market outlook suggests that 18% of employers would not consider taking somebody on from capacity benefit if their problem was mental health, whereas physical ill health would only disqualify 10% in the eyes of those surveyed. When asked what steps would need to be taken to encourage the employment of more employees from capacity benefit claimers, employers suggested that grants to improve skills would be helpful.
A new draft code of practice from the Disability Rights Commission was laid before Parliament on 8th June and can be accessed here. The code of practice covers rights of access with services to the public, public authority functions, private clubs and premises. The Disability Rights Commission has also issued a number of guides on learning disabilities, HIV as well as issuing guidance on how to gather evidence for assessment for the new obligations for disability equality. In a response to a parliamentary question on 12th May, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry reported that the pay gap for those with a disability was on average 13 percentage points.
We reported some time ago on the case of Meikle v Nottinghamshire City Council. Gaynor Meikle won her case before the Court of Appeal, having alleged disability discrimination and constructive dismissal. She has now received compensation of £196,000.
Elsewhere a cancer suffer who claimed to have been singled out for redundancy won £14,000 at a tribunal in Inverness. The tribunal found that the employer, Edinburgh Smoked Salmon Company, wanted to give the claimant’s job to a man who had been standing in for her because they feared she might fall ill again.
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Equal Opportunities
There probably would be some scope for employment law news even without the World Cup and Wimbledon, but as Wimbledon is now upon us, we report that the row about equal prize money for men and women rumbles on. Wimbledon is apparently now the only major championship paying less for women than men. The current argument of course is that men play best of 5 against the women’s best of 3. Not that that stopped Tim Henman exiting in a very speedy 3 sets to Roger Federer.
In Scotland a Hotel manager for Whitbread has launched an equal pay claim citing her husband as the comparator. She manages the Pirnhall Inn in Stirling, whilst her husband is managing the Buchanan Gate Brewers Fayre in Stepps, Lanarkshire. He is paid more than she is. Lawyers for the company admit that the pay structure may not be fair, but deny that it is due to discrimination. The case continues.
Of rather more significance perhaps is the opinion of the Advocate General in the long running case of Cadman v the HSE. The case arose because Mrs Cadman claimed that a reward structure based on length of service had a disparately disadvantageous effect on women, as they more often took career breaks for family reasons. The Advocate General’s opinion recommends that where an employer uses length of service, and it demonstrably has an effect on male and female employees, the company should show that it is required for the business needs for the company and is applied proportionality so as to minimise the impact on women. This will need to be borne in mind with Age Discrimination as younger employees may complain.
The new Fire Minister, Angela Smith has launched a campaign to encourage more women to work as fire fighters. She says that women are currently under represented in operational roles because of the perception that fire fighting is a male occupation. The minister suggests that potential recruits should not be put off by this macho stereotype.
Equal pay claims in the north of England and Scotland are costing the public sector large amounts of money. It is thought that nearly 20,000 health workers could be eligible for payments averaging £60,000, whilst 8,000 council workers have claims worth potentially on average £15,000 each. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities believes that the claims will cost Scottish Local Authorities some £560 million.
Again in Scotland the former Director of Corporate Affairs at McDonalds Hotels, Elisabeth Irons, believes that she was paid around £50,000 a year less than comparable male employees.
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Flexible Working
According to a TUC report “out of time”, more working fathers are asking employers to work flexibly, but overall are less likely to consider changing their working hours. It would seem that around 10% of male employees approach their employers about changing working hours, compared to 98% of women. A survey undertaken by BT business suggested that around 1/3 of the workforce would be prepared to give up their next pay rise in order to work from home.
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Health and Safety
The case continues against Gillian Beckingham, an architect with Barrow-in-Furness Council at Preston Crown Court. She is charged with manslaughter in respect of the seven deaths from Legionnaires Disease as a result of failing to maintain an ageing air conditioning system. It was alleged that she had cancelled a maintenance contract which would have ensured that necessary tests were undertaken on the system.
A sub-editor with the Guardian received £37,500 from the newspaper’s insurers on a claim for repetitive strain injury. The health and safety regulations require an assessment of work stations for health and safety risk.
A press release from Unison shows that 1 in every 22 NHS staff has been assaulted and the Union believes this is just those reported and therefore represents a tip of the iceberg. The Union is pressing for a new offence, assault on a public sector worker, to give health workers the same level of protection as police officers.
In the case of R v Hatton Traffic Management Ltd, the Court of Appeal ruled that it was open to employers to argue that they had discharged their safety so far as is reasonably practical, by providing safe systems at work. In this case, two employees of Hatton Traffic Management were killed when equipment they were moving for resurfacing work came in to contact with high voltage overhead cables.
The nuclear Processing plant at Sellafield is facing an unlimited fine over health and safety breaches, following the prosecution by the HSE, for allowing acid containing uranium and plutonium to escape from a ruptured pipe.
A paper merchant was fined and ordered to pay costs for allowing dangerous work practices to take place on their premises. An 18 year old employee turned up for work on his first day wearing trainers and operated an electrically powered pallet truck. The truck ran over his foot fracturing toes and crushing three bones.
According to figures published by the TUC, the number of health and safety inspections has fallen by a quarter in 12 months. The number of convictions also fell from 887 to 673 between 2003 and 2004.
The GMB union is warning employers about the risks of skin cancer resulting from employees being sunburnt whilst at work. During 2005 there were plans at EU level to introduce legislation but this was voted down by MEPs. The HSE publish guidance which can be accessed here.
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Internet Abuse
A recent survey by Pointsec Robotic Technologies shows that the number of employees using USB memory sticks, digital media players and external disks has doubled over the preceding twelve months. However 66% of companies responding to the survey had no security policy in respect of removable media. 56% surveyed are storing corporate information such as contracts, proposals and other business documents, whilst 22% use them to store current customer details. Not surprisingly 70% use the media to store downloaded media files. Another survey by Nielson Net Ratings shows downloaded pornography represents a growing problem. They suggest that 25% of men between the age of 25 and 49 have visited an adult website in the previous month and interestingly showed a big increase in the number of women visiting adult sites. These two surveys emphasise the need both to have a computer use and abuse policy, but also the need to revisit the policies regularly to take account of changing technology.
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Maternity
The Work and Families Act 2006 has now received Royal Assent. The Act extends the maximum period of maternity and sends the right to request flexible working to the carers of adults. The Government is also consulting on the potential to transfer maternity leave from mothers to fathers.
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Minimum Wage
Butlins lost an Employment Appeal Tribunal case on minimum wage where they were deducting the cost of heat and light of resident staff from their pay packet. Butlins are considering an appeal.
The adult minimum wage is due to increase to £5.35 per hour from 1st October 2006 and to £4.45 per hour for 18 – 21 year olds.
The Governor of the Bank of England is warning that there is now pressure to restore differentials that could accelerate earnings growth.
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Pay
An interesting answer to a written question in the House of Lords provided a breakdown of average pay by region in the UK. We are reproducing this below. It shows that the average income in London is now in excess of £35,000 per annum.
| Gross weekly(£) pay for full-time employee jobs(1) by place of work |
| Region | Median | Mean |
| United Kingdom | 431 | 517 |
| North-east | 386 | 452 |
| North-west | 407 | 480 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 399 | 467 |
| East Midlands | 407 | 469 |
| West Midlands | 403 | 476 |
| South-west | 401 | 473 |
| East | 429 | 512 |
| London | 556 | 698 |
| South-east | 450 | 539 |
| Wales | 390 | 454 |
| Scotland | 410 | 480 |
| Northern Ireland | 387 | 452 |
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Pensions
The CBI has welcomed the Government’s white paper on pensions, but the current Director General, Sir Digby Jones is quoted as saying that there needs to be a support package available to help reduce the burden on employers. They estimate that the compulsory contributions from employers will cost industry £2.3 billion per year. The CBI proposes a package of support for smaller firms at an estimated cost of £500 million per year.
The TUC is warning the Government to fight against secrecy in pensions investment which they say is being fostered by the City of London. Their concern is the secretive votes taken at AGMs to award pensions to Directors. They want the voting records of shareholders, primarily city institutions, to be transparent.
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Racial Discrimination
We have previously covered the case of Redfearn v Serco. In that case the EAT had held that Mr Redfearn could claim race discrimination because race issues had been in the employers mind when deciding to dismiss. Mr Redfearn had been a councillor for the British National Party, and the company had yielded to pressure from predominately Asian union members, saying that they did not want to work with him. The Court of Appeal slapped down the EAT’s reasoning saying that their interpretation would turn the policy of race relations legislation upside down.
A consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr Feya Awotona won a £1.6million payout from the South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust having demonstrated that she had been dismissed and victimised on racial grounds. She is now seeking costs of around £750,000.
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Religious Discrimination
In Scotland, police officers are to undergo a survey on religious affiliation amidst claims that Catholics are being denied promotion by what is termed a “stained glass ceiling”.
A secretary in the City of London has a case before the High Court saying that she was subjected to bullying on religious grounds whilst working for Deutsche Bank. She alleges that the intimidation was directed at her on the grounds of her being Jewish.
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Recruitment
Recruitment specialists Elas warn companies against failing to ask for a CV. Their observation arises out of the BBC Two program, the Apprentice, when two contestants admitted to never having written a CV before. Whilst we would not attempt to dissuade the practice of producing CVs, it is our very strong view that employers should ask all job applicants to complete a detailed application form. An application form can be designed to elicit consistent information from all job applicants and therefore ensure that the process is demonstrably fair.
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Redundancy
The case of Sanmina Sci UK Ltd v McCormack has repercussions for all employers embarking on a redundancy process. The company were making 15 employees redundant and the tribunal found that they were all unfairly dismissed. However, the tribunal found that despite the failings in consultation, the employees would have been dismissed in any event. They also found that there were defects in the application of selection criteria. The appeal tribunal held that the employment tribunal was not bound to consider what would have happened if the criteria had been properly applied if no evidence is given. If the argument made in the tribunal was that the same result would have followed anyway, regardless of the failing of procedures, then there must be clear evidence to that effect.
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Sexual Discrimination
In the case of Moyhing v Barts and London NHS Trust the appeal tribunal were required to consider the practice of chaperoning. The Trust required male student nurses to be accompanied by a female when administering an ECG to female patients, because the procedure involved touching the patient’s breast. The tribunal held that this was discriminatory because there was no equivalent requirement for female nurses to have a male chaperone in dealing with the private parts of male patients. The EAT upheld their finding, but compensation was limited to £750, demonstrating their lack of enthusiasm for their own findings.
The GMB Union is facing possible compensation claims of up to £1 million over representation by the Union. The women had sought advice from the Union after discovering that male employees doing work of equal value were getting paid up to 40% more due to bonus awards. The GMB advised them to take a deal rather than legal action. The tribunal in Newcastle held that the Union had rushed headlong into considering an ill considered back pay agreement and had not challenged the council’s plea of poverty. This in effect discriminated against the female Union members.
Some 20 years after the land mark case of Jean Porchelli establishing that sexual harassment was a form of harassment under the sex discrimination act, the EOC report that it still remains depressingly common. The EOC has just issued new guidelines to help employers prevent sexual harassment. At the moment they estimate that there is a successful case brought every week in the tribunals.
In the case of Grant v the United Kingdom, Linda Grant successfully brought a case against the UK Government who refused to pay her a state pension at the age of 60 on the basis that she was born male and therefore not entitled to a pension until aged 65. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that this was contrary to the Human Rights Convention and that the law had been changed according to the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
In Brighton a lesbian employee succeeded in a case against Estate Agents, 2Let Estate Agency. She claimed that she had been dismissed from her management role after the company discovered that she was 16 weeks pregnant. She was awarded £13,000 in compensation.
Solicitor Vivien Saunders applied to become Chairman of the Children in Golf Strategy Group. She had been awarded an OBE for services to Golf in 1997 and had been a national coach for 3 of the 4 home countries over a period of 25 years. The only female applicant, she received no acknowledgment or offer of interview. She complained about discrimination and started court proceedings. The County Court ruled that the PGA were entitled to exemption from the sex discrimination act because the position was that of a volunteer rather than paid employment or an officer.
In the case Corus Hotels Plc V Woodward and another, Ms Woodward succeeded in her case against the company. She had applied for a job as a receptionist, but did not get the job. Her interview was conducted “in a crassly sexist manner”. The case demonstrates the importance of proper guidelines and training for all staff that have contact with the public and future employees. It is not enough to have an equal opportunities policy if there is no training or effective implementation.
The case of Miles v Gilbank confirmed the joint responsibility of a manager for sex discrimination. The claimant succeeded in her case for sex discrimination and was awarded £25,000 for injury for feelings. The manager of the hairdressing salon where Ms Gilbank worked was said to foster and encourage a discriminatory culture.
In the City of London it is reported that a banker, Claire Bright, with HBOS was claiming £11million for sexual discrimination. Her earnings package whilst at the bank amounted to £600,000 per annum and even the companies own management consultancy had described her boss Cliff Pattenden as difficult to work with. Ms Bright lost her job following an internal inquiry whilst her manager is still employed. The case is yet to reach a tribunal.
The Equal Quality Commission has itself found itself on the wrong end of a tribunal judgement. Helen McGowan claimed that she had not been given the chance to apply for a temporary job to which a male colleague had been appointed. The tribunal found that the commission had discriminated against her on the grounds of her sex.
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Sexual Orientation
The DTI has published draft proposals outlining discrimination based on sexuality in the provision of goods, facilities and services. Amongst the areas on which views are being sort are:
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Sick Absence
Research by the CBI shows that levels of sickness in an organisation are manifestly lower when the HR department is responsible for managing sickness, rather than the line manager. The CBI also says that some 23 million days were lost in 2004 due to sickness absence. The CBI said that the study showed a culture of absenteeism in too many workplaces, but acknowledged that the number of day’s absence is at its lowest level for 20 years. They also report on incentive schemes to reduce absence such as that in the Royal Mail where employees who have not taken a sick day over a six month period were entered into a draw to win a car. In their first exercise the Royal Mail handed out 37 new Ford Focuses and 75 holidays valued at £2000. The Royal Mail estimate that their investment improved attendance levels by 11%. However both the TUC and ACAS disapprove of the schemes. They say that the payments will mask the real levels of sickness. The TUC estimate that some 75% of people go to work when in fact they should be in bed and that being unwell at work leads to mistakes, with financial and health implications.
The HSE believe that investing in health and wellbeing is well worth while. They estimate that ill health costs small businesses up to 10% of pay roll costs and they believe assistance to employers on stress management and campaigns such as “back awareness” are positive and feed directly into an improvement of the bottom line. That view is echoed by the Engineering Employers Federation which suggests that the investment in occupational health offers a marked improvement.
Interestingly another survey conducted on a European wide basis found that office workers using aging and unreliable office computers were much more likely to claim sick leave. The biggest single request was for a better quality monitor.
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Stress
The HSE Labour Force survey for 2005 shows 13 million working days lost due to stress and Musculoskeletal Disorders.
Research conducted by the Samaritans shows that a third of UK workers can not get to sleep through the night due to anxiety. Good management and flexible working were said to be the biggest contributors to an improvement in working life.
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Part Time and Temporary Workers
The Temporary Workers Directive is not entirely off the agenda. The TUC is calling the Government to support EU law and to implement the Agency Workers Directive.
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Tribunals
Where a grievance is lodged following or contemporaneously with a resignation alleging constructive dismissal, there is a three month extension to permit the grievance to be considered and permitting a later filing of a tribunal application. In the case of Rainbow International v Taylor the argument about the length of the extension came down to one day. The grievance letter was sent on 20th June 2005 and the tribunal claim lodged on 20th December 2005. The EAT said that the extension of time was three months and not three months less one day.
The employment tribunals have jurisdiction to consider breach of contract claims. The Court of Appeal held that the limit of £25,000 is absolute and that if claim is brought in the tribunal it can not be re-litigated elsewhere for any excess. In the case of Fraser v HLMAD Ltd, Mr Fraser brought his claim in the tribunal, reserving the right to claim the excess in the High Court. He succeeded in the tribunal and recovered £25,000, and then wanted to claim the balance of £55,000 in the High Court. The Court of Appeal held that his case had already been litigated upon and could not be revisited.
We have reported previously on the case of Willow Oak developments Ltd v Silverwood which was a contested case on dismissal for some other substantial reason. Willow Oak, an employment agency, had wished to impose fresh restrictive covenants on their employees and then dismissed those who did not cooperate. The Court of Appeal held that such an approach might be “some other substantial reason”, but the employer in the particular case had acted unreasonably in treating the refusal for reason for dismissal and it was not therefore fair under section 98 for the Employment Rights Act 1996.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that an employer can not be responsible for costs in a tribunal case if it takes no part in those proceedings. In the case of Sutton v The Ranch Ltd, the employer who had failed to enter a response could not be responsible for costs to the point of the default judgment.
In the case of Tesco Stores Ltd V Pryke, the company had dismissed Mr Pryke, an employee of 15 years standing, after he overturned his lorry. The Bedford Tribunal found that he had been unfairly dismissed and ordered re-instatement. The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the Tribunal had substituted its view of a reasonable investigation and the matter should therefore be remitted to a different Tribunal for re-hearing.
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TUPE
The House of Lords have given its decision in the long running case of Celtec v Astley. In 1990 the Department of Education created the Celtec along with other TECs. A number of civil servants were seconded from the Department of Education to the TECs. After three years they were offered the opportunity to return to the Department or stay with the TECs. In this case the claimants resigned from the Department of Education and signed new contracts with the TEC. The House of Lords found that the relevant TUPE date was September 1990. Previously it had been thought that a TUPE transfer could take place over a period and as an operation of law it was a specific date when it took place. The employees and employers could not agree differently.
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Working Time
The Government is proposing to increase the working time holiday allowance to 28 days to take account of public holidays. A consultation document has been issued which you can access here. The move was welcomed by the TUC. The UK’s opt out from the maximum 48 hour working week seems set to continue for the moment. The EU were looking to require the Government to give up it’s opt out with the possibility of a longer reference period being substituted. The British Chambers of Commerce support that continued opt out.
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Whistleblowing
In the case of Woodford v Abbey National Plc the Court of Appeal held that the right to claim detriment could operate post termination. In this case, the claimant could complain that she had been subjected to detriments after the tribunal which turned the protected disclosure some 10 years previously. In particular the refusal to provide a reference amounted to a continuing detriment. The Employment Appeal Tribunal has also held that in whistleblowing cases, the employer can not normally make a submission of no case to answer at the end of a claimant’s case. The EAT held that this denied the claimant the opportunity to elicit favorable evidence from the respondent in cross examination. In Wakefield six social work staff have taken the Council to the tribunal after they claim they were sacked for telling the truth about conditions in the Council’s children’s homes. Following their dismissal the Council applied to place the dismissed employees on the list of those deemed to a risk to children. The Department for Education and schools refused the Council’s referral.
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Education
School Reforms and Trust Schools
Despite efforts by 67 rebel Labour MP’s and the Libdems to introduce an amendment to the Government’s controversial educational reforms it seems that Trust Schools, the main sticking point are here to stay. The Bill was passed finally at the end of May, and will now go to the Lords. The passage of the bill was entirely dependent on Conservative support the vote to reject the amendment being 412 votes to 121. The Labour rebels included 9 former Blair ministers, 2 of whom had held Cabinet status jobs. They sought to give parents the right to vote on English schools leaving Local Education Authority (LEA) control. The bill also gives the Education Secretary the right of veto to LEA’s setting up new community schools. The new Education secretary Alan Johnson said his plans would prove greater choice, but Sir Menzies Campbell for the Libdems described them as “poorly thought out proposals”.
Interviewed by the Times Educational Supplement Sir Cyril Taylor Chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust urged underperforming secondary schools to merge with successful ones to avoid a two tier system in England. Some 85% of secondaries have found sponsors to become specialist schools, of the remaining 450 non specialist schools Sir Cyril identified 272 as low performing. He described their results as “appalling” giving as an example the successful and popular Haberdashers’ Aske’s CTC in Bromley in transforming the underperforming Malory school.
School Exclusions
Figures published by the Department for Education and Skills show that there were 9,440 permanent exclusions during 2004-5 - a drop of 4%. The Shadow education secretary David Willetts said that permanent exclusions were down by 440 but temporary exclusions were up by 45,510 indicating that head teachers are coming under pressure to reduce permanent exclusion. A view shared by the general secretary of NASUWT Chris Keates. He believes some LEA’s continue to place “undue pressure” on schools not to permanently exclude pupils to avoid the responsibility to provide alternative schooling. Libdem shadow education secretary Sara Teather said that “kicking students out of school might give temporary relief but stored up problems for later”, while the UK director of Save the Child was concerned that the excluded were those most at risk.
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Universites and Graduates
Lecturers’ Dispute
Although four of the seven unions made up largely of support staff have accepted an offer of 12.5% over 3 years, the industrial action by college lecturers continues and has disrupted exams in one in five universities. The Press Association have conducted of 120 universities and received replies from 85. These showed 19% of exams had been postponed or cancelled, 27% of tutors refused to mark coursework or withheld results and 39% had been affected by disruption. The National Union of Students has condemned the boycott of exams saying “it had a disproportionately destructive impact on students”. At this stage therefore it is difficult to predict what the long term effects will be for the Graduates of 2006. However one thing is certain, the AUT academics are hardly an overpaid bunch with salaries equivalent to that of the average Tube driver.
Business School launches new HR Management Centre
Manchester Metropolitan University opened the Centre for Professional Personnel and Development CPPD last month. The opening was attended by Leading HR professionals including Geoff Armstrong, director general of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Manchester business school has had links with CIPD for over sixty years and the new centre is intended to fulfil a co-ordinating role enabling HR professionals to make better use of available resources, through recognised qualification programmes, seminars and conferences.
Graduate Skills Gap
A study of 539 graduates and 50 FTSE HR Directors by Orange and think-tank Demos has revealed a gulf in understanding about the skills required as expectations of employers change radically. 54% of the employers surveyed felt it was harder than ever to find graduates with the right skills yet 91% of the graduates thought they were well prepared for the workplace. In particular employers rated creativity and innovation above all other skills a fact not recognised by the graduates. Sir Digby Jones the outgoing director-general of the CBI said “Vocational training should not be a substitute for higher education but should add to it. People are coming out of higher education better qualified than ever before – but without the right skills.”
Graduate Shortages
Lack of Engineering Graduates
The Royal Academy of Engineering believes that the UK economy will be seriously damaged by the shortage of engineering graduates, and find it impossible to compete with India and China who train almost half a million engineering graduates each year. According to their report entitled “Educating Engineers for the 21st Century: the Industry View” between 1994 and 2004 approximately 24,500 engineers graduated each year in the UK, however less than half went into the profession after leaving university. Speaking for the Academy Prof Julia King said: “If we are to deliver a vision of the UK as a global leader we need to see industry and universities collaborating to produce more inspiring engineering degree courses with closer industrial engagement”.
NHS likely to reduce Nursing Undergraduate Places
NHS Employers may review its spending on undergraduate training with a consequent drop in the number of places for nursing undergraduates in September. Sian Thomas deputy director of NHS Employers told People Management magazine “Now that supply and demand are pretty much equal we are going to reduce slightly the number of nursing undergraduates”. Since 1997 when Labour came into power NHS staff numbers overall have risen by around 300,000. The number of nurses has increased by 85,000 to a total of more than 1.3 million.
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Training Schemes
Modern Apprenticeships
BMW has opened a £17 million training academy to house its apprenticeship scheme. The BMW Group Academy UK has 32 workshops, 22 training rooms, residential accommodation for 40 people and a dummy showroom to develop the skills of it 170 apprentices every year. The cost represents £1,100 for each UK employee but the company feels that an apprentice retention rate of 95% over five years more than justifies the expenditure. While the Federation for Master Builders has announced its own “Apprentice of the Year Sheme”, although apprentices will not be required to blow their own trumpet Alan Sugar style. Instead nominations can only be made by employers, customers, tutors or a member of the Construction Industry Training Board. The competition is open to any apprentice working in Construction and the winner will be awarded £1,000.
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Skills Gaps
The CBI remains deeply concerned about the skills gap in England which they estimate is costing £10 billion a year in lost revenue. Commenting on the Public Accountants Committee report “Employers’ perspectives on improving skills for employment” Head of Skills at the CBI Anthony Thompson said “While employers can do more, it is clearly the responsibility of Government, not business, to ensure people of all ages have the reading, writing, arithmetic and communication skills to make their way in the world”. The latest CBI/KPMG London Business Survey also revealed shortages of skilled staff represents the biggest barrier to business in London and now overtakes transport problems for the first time. According to the survey 61% of employers are facing skills shortages a rise of 49% from last year with professional services and transport the worst affected.
The Sector Skills Development Agency SSDA have hit back with a high profile advertising campaign inviting employers to consult with the 25 Sector Skills Councils in shaping qualifications and training courses. The advertisement declares 57% of Employers say Graduates and School leavers are ill-equipped for Business, now 100% can do something about it – The Power is in Your Hands and challenges employers to exert their influence through the Skills for Business network. For more details go to www.skillsforbusiness.biz. The SSDA have also joined the Sector Skills Council and the government in launching a network organisation aimed at encouraging employers to offer apprenticeships. The Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network led by Sir Roy Gardner chief executive of Centrica will provide advice to organisations seeking to establish apprenticeships and well as providing feedback to Government.
In May Chancellor Gordon Brown announced a new joint government union learning project in a partnership of the Department of Education and Skills and the TUC and backed by £18.5 million public funding. Unionlearn www.unionlearn.org.uk will support a network of learning centres based in colleges of further education, workplaces and union offices in England. Unionlearn has since signed an agreement with Investors in People to work together with the TUC to develop learning and skills at work. Brendan Barber for the TUC said: “Together we will actively work to make sure that greater numbers of employers and workers take up the learning challenge and boost their organisation’s effectiveness”
London Skills Olympics
The news announced in Melbourne that London will host the Worldskillsin 2011 however was warmly welcomed by David Frost Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce. He described the announcement as fantastic news and “holding the skills Olympics in London will help raise the profile and value of vocational learning across the country”.
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Workplace Training
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships
For the first time this year the ball boys and girls at Wimbledon were required to undergo training in more than just ball skills and fitness levels with the introduction of an online option for the written test. Around 220 young people aged 14-17 are recruited, drawn from 18 local schools and more than 400 this year took the new electronic module. The purpose of the written test is to assist the learning of a large number of young people with varying academic ability who may not know much about tennis. Anne Rundle head of training at Wimbledon told People Management magazine said that the scores in the written test were notably higher this year. She said: “This was intended to be a teaching tool that would help them in a form they were comfortable with”.
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