‘On 13 July 2023, the High Court quashed the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022, which attempted to render lawful the supply of agency workers to break a strike. In this judicial review brought by 11 trade unions, the High Court held that the government had acted unlawfully and irrationally by introducing the Regulations, by failing in its duty to consult on the Regulations, and instead relying on a 7-year old consultation (from 2015) where the majority of stakeholders had opposed earlier proposals of a similar set of legislations (§28). The Court found that the then business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng had proceeded ‘at exceptional speed’ in introducing the Regulations before the summer recess of 2022 (§175), an approach described by the Court as one which ‘frustrated the aim of informed decision-making’ (§180). Although this judgment has several interesting public law implications, specifically on the extent and nature of the government’s duty to consult, it is also significant for labour law, and was hailed by the unions as a significant victory in preserving the right to strike in the UK.’
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Cloisters, July 2023
Source: www.cloisters.com
