On 4th July 2023, the House of Lords debated the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Votes: Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill
Tag: Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill 2023
Votes: Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill
On 8th June the House of Lords debated Commons amendments to the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. Votes were held on further amendments to the bill, in which a bishop took part:
‘MPs must oppose government plans that threaten nurses and others with dismissal’ – Bishop of London and RCN General Secretary article
The following article, jointly authored by the Bishop of London and Pat Cullen, appeared in The Times Red Box on Monday May 22 2023
Nursing has come a long way since we both entered the profession for the first time in the 1980s. But the values that underpin it have remained constant: compassion, selflessness, dignity, and integrity.
Nurses will stop at nothing to look after their patients. The nursing profession is the beating heart of this country’s health and care system.
Ministers stood on their doorsteps during the pandemic clapping the heroic efforts of nurses. Now that seems like a distant memory.
Continue reading “‘MPs must oppose government plans that threaten nurses and others with dismissal’ – Bishop of London and RCN General Secretary article”Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill: Bishop of Guildford speaks in support of amendment on compliance with work notices
On 26th April 2023, the House of Lords debated amendments to the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. The Bishop of Guildford, on behalf of the Bishop of London, spoke in support of an amendment to the bill tabled by Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway that “would prevent failure to comply with a work notice from being regarded as a breach of contract or constituting lawful grounds for dismissal or any other detriment.”
The Lord Bishop of Guildford: My Lords, I will speak in support of Amendment 4, to which my friend the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of London has signed her name. Bishop Sarah sends her apologies that she cannot be here, but we both strongly support the amendment, not least given reports that many important voices across the healthcare world, including the Royal College of Nursing and NHS Providers, are similarly supportive.
Continue reading “Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill: Bishop of Guildford speaks in support of amendment on compliance with work notices”Votes: Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill
On 26th April 2023, the House of Lords debated the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill in the report stage. Votes were held on amendments to the bill, in which Bishops took part:
Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendments on worker protection and parliamentary scrutiny of legislation
On 23rd March 2023, the House of Lords debated the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill in its second day of committee. The Bishop of Manchester spoke in the debate, in support of numerous amendments:
- Amendments 20 & 40, that would require reviews of how the legislation would affect recruitment and of the meaning of minimum service levels
- Amendment 21, which would seek to ensure that work notices are only issued where all options to avert a strike are exhausted
- Amendment 41, which would preserve existing protections from unfair dismissal, including for an employee who participates in a strike contrary to a work notice under the bill
- Amendments 37 & 43, which would allow for parliamentary scrutiny of sections of the bill, and remove the ability for the Secretary of State to make regulations that repeal primary legislation and would make all regulations made under this section subject to the affirmative procedure
Amendments 20 & 40:
The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I am sorry to come into the debate quite late; I had not realised we were getting so close to the end. I support Amendment 20 from the noble Lord, Lord Collins, and Amendment 40 from the noble Lord, Lord Fox. I regret that I have been unable to be in my seat at earlier stages, but I am grateful that my right reverend friends the Bishops of London and St Edmundsbury and Ipswich have passed on my concerns. Amendments 20 and 40 are absolutely invaluable. If this Bill is—regrettably, in my view—to become law, it must have all necessary consultation and evidence gathering before it.
Continue reading “Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill: Bishop of Manchester supports amendments on worker protection and parliamentary scrutiny of legislation”Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill: Bishop of London speaks on inclusion of health services in bill
The Bishop of London spoke to a group of amendments related to health services during a debate on the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill on 9th March 2023, raising concerns of the effect of the bill on individual health service staff, pressure on staff levels, and low morale in the healthcare service:
The Lord Bishop of London: My Lords, I rise to speak to this group of amendments on the inclusion of health services in the Bill. I am sorry that I have not been able to speak before. I declare my interests as set out in the register.
I have been a union member. I joined as a nurse—and as an NHS manager and a civil servant in the Department of Health—because I wanted protection. The relationship with unions was critical; it was the way in which we improved patient care. One of my overall concerns about the Bill is that it has the potential to break down the relationship which is so vital for patient care, as the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, said.
I am grateful to the Royal College of Nursing, which has helped me in considering the Bill. I am sure that it will not surprise noble Lords to know that it does not support the Bill, for what I see as some good reasons: not least because it curtails the freedom to participate in what otherwise is lawful action.
My right reverend friend the Bishop of Manchester regrets that he cannot be here, but he shares my concern that far too much power is given to the Secretary of State in what we have already heard is only a skeleton Bill, and that there is a complete lack of clarity about how it could be used. It is open to abuse. I am surprised that, as many others have said, the detailed policy that becomes legislation is not there. I am concerned that those who work in the health service probably cannot see whether they are in there or not.
Continue reading “Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill: Bishop of London speaks on inclusion of health services in bill”Strikes (Minimum Service) Bill: Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich urges government to reconsider legislation
On 21st February 2023, the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich spoke in a debate on the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, expressing concerns on workers rights and the broadness of the legislation proposed, and urging that the government reconsider the bill:
The Lord Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich: My Lords, I too look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady O’Neill. There is only me standing in the way, so I will try to be brief.
At Second Reading in the other place, the Government said that the Bill’s purpose was
“to maintain a reasonable balance between the ability of workers to strike and the rights of the public, who work hard and expect the essential services that they pay for to be there when they need them.”—[Official Report, Commons, 16/1/23; col. 54.]
At first glance this might seem a straightforward aim. However, as noble Lords and those in the other place have already said, there is much more at stake here than initially meets the eye. I believe that the Bill in its current form creates more problems than those it perceives or seeks to solve.
There has been a terrible increase in industrial action in the past months. We all reflect on why this may be the case. There are serious and legitimate concerns held by those who decide to go on strike about their well-being, as well as the well-being of the services for which they work and that of wider society.
Continue reading “Strikes (Minimum Service) Bill: Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich urges government to reconsider legislation”
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