Part of Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 10:40 am ar 19 Mehefin 2012.
Katja Hall: I think that in general it is good practice to properly review regulations after a few years to see whether they are working and how they are embedding. Sunset clauses should in some ways be the norm, rather than the exception. I will give one example, which I think illustrates the point, which is the right to request flexible working. When the legislation was introduced, the aim was to encourage the employer and the employee to have a constructive discussion about flexible working, but the way that society has changed since and the way that the legislation has been successful means that there is less of a need for the legislation, so in some cases the sunset clause could be there because the legislation has achieved its purpose. In other cases, it may need to be there, and used, because the labour market or whatever it is has changed in such a way that it is no longer appropriate.