Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Ratification: 1966)

1. The Committee takes note of a communication from the Trades Union Congress (TUC), dated 21 December 1990, a copy of which was addressed to the Government.

2. The TUC points out that it had to submit its comments on the application of the Convention before receiving the Government's report for the 1988-90 period. The TUC states that it is deeply concerned about the failure to apply the Convention properly.

3. The Committee takes note of the Government's report received in February 1991. The Government provides detailed information on the application of the Convention and in reply to the Committee's previous comments. It indicates that it has sent copies of its report to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the TUC, but that it has received no comments in reply.

4. The Committee does not feel itself to be in a position to undertake rapidly a full examination of the application of the Convention, so as to come to any conclusion on the Government's and TUC's diverging assessments as to the consistency of government policy with the principles of the Convention. However, it notes the difficulties that the TUC again raise with regard to the lack of constructive discussion between the Government and the social partners, which continue to be a source of concern to the Committee.

5. The Committee proposes to defer to its next session its examination of the application of the Convention. In order to do so, it would be grateful if the Government would make the observations on the matters raised by the TUC in the above communication. More generally, the Committee can only reiterate the hope that the Government's next reports will be supplied by the due date to the ILO and the employers' and workers' organisations concerned, in order to facilitate the necessary tripartite discussion and the examination of the report. Finally, it asks the Government, as it did in its 1990 observation on Convention No. 142 (human resources development), to provide additional information showing that the policy pursued will not have the effect of lowering the level of the Government's commitment with regard to its main obligations under the Convention, particularly as concerns the requirements for co-operation with employers' and workers' organisations.