British Coal had the power to close coal mines once the unions had been consulted. The court gave guidance on the extent of consultation necessary.
Held: Fair consultation will involve consultation while consultations are at a formative stage; adequate information on which to respond; adequate time in which to respond and conscientious consideration by an authority of the response to consultation. Applying the test in R v Gwent ex p Bryant: ‘It is axiomatic that the process of consultation is not one in which the consultor is obliged to adopt any or all of the views expressed by the person or body whom he is consulting. ‘ and ‘Another way of putting the point more shortly is that fair consultation involves giving the body consulted a fair and proper opportunity to understand fully the matters about which it is being consulted, and to express its views on those subjects, with the consultor thereafter considering those views properly and genuinely.’
Glidewell LJ
Times 28-May-1993, [1994] IRLR 72
Citing:
Adopted – Regina v Gwent County Council ex parte Bryant 1988
The court described what was meant by consultation: ‘Fair consultation means: (a) consultation when the proposals are still at a formative stage; (b) adequate information on which to respond; (c) adequate time in which to respond; (d) conscientious . .
Cited by:
Cited – Lambe v 186K Ltd CA 29-Jul-2004
The claimant had been dismissed for redundancy, but the company had been found not to have consulted him properly, and he had therefore been unfairly dismissed. The tribunal had then found that even if consulted the result would not have been . .
Cited – Cambridge Housing Society v Anwar EAT 9-Mar-2007
EAT Unfair Dismissal – Reason for dismissal including substantial other reason / Reasonableness for dismissal
4 grounds of appeal challenging reasonableness of Employment Tribunal decision allowing a claim . .
Cited – Mccaffrey v Fold Housing Association NIIT 27-Nov-2007
. .
Cited – English v Coastal Container Line Ltd NIIT 17-Dec-2008
. .
Cited – Hanover (Scotland) Housing Association Limited v John Reid Margaret Reid OHCS 6-Apr-2006
. .
Cited – Polyglobe Group Ltd v Vadher, Hassen EAT 21-Apr-2005
EAT Practice and Procedure – Bias, misconduct and procedural irregularity. The Employment Tribunal made an important factual finding as to the process by which the employees were dismissed, the finding being on a . .
Cited – Cranwick Country Food Plc v GMB Trade Union EAT 6-Sep-2005
EAT Tribunal correct that consultation about the correspondence of factory closure should have taken place immediately after closure plans announced before contracts exchanged on a new site. Securicor and Susie . .
Cited – M Mofunanya v Richmond Fellowship A Hanley EAT 23-Dec-2003
EAT Redundancy – Definition
EAT Redundancy – Definition . .
Cited – Caves v Board of Governors of Campbell College NIIT 23-Apr-2004
. .
Cited – Transport and General Workers Union v Manchester Airport Plc EAT 4-Aug-2004
EAT Redundancy – Collective consultation and information . .
Cited – Amicus v Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd EAT 26-Jul-2005
EAT Employers failed to consult with company council rather than union – did not consult with union until later stage 3 weeks before employees had to indicate willingness to be relocated but 4.5 months before . .
Cited – Securicor Omega Express Ltd v GMB (A Trade Union) EAT 7-Apr-2003
EAT The company decided to close two branches and make redundancies. They presented the closure itself as a fait accompli to the union representatives. The Tribunal found that this involved a failure to consult . .
Cited – Oakley v Merseyside Magistrates Court Committee EAT 2-Mar-2003
EAT Redundancy – Collective Consultation and Information . .
Cited – Alstom Traction Ltd v Birkenhead and others EAT 10-Oct-2002
. .
Cited – Colvin v Attol Business Systems Ltd EAT 29-Nov-2002
EAT Unfair Dismissal – Other . .
Cited – Hailwood v Best Power Technology Ltd EAT 29-Sep-1999
EAT Redundancy – Fairness . .
Cited – Scotch Premier Meat Ltd v Stuart Burns and others EAT 28-Apr-2000
EAT Redundancy – Definition . .
Cited – Middlesbrough Borough Council v TGWU Unison EAT 4-May-2001
The council sought to make redundancies because of its financial circumstances following re-organisation. The employees said the consultation procedure had been a sham.
Held: Fair consultation involves giving the body consulted a fair and . .
Cited – Godrich and Serwotka v Public and Commercial Services Union and Reamsbottom ChD 31-Jul-2002
The second defendant had become General Secretary of the first defendant after the amalgamation of two unions. The defendants agreed a compromise as to his term of office. The applicants sought declarations that they were now joint secretary.
Cited – Hailwood v Best Power Technology Ltd EAT 29-Sep-2000
. .
Cited – O’Kane and Another v Grayston White and Sparrow Ltd EAT 6-Dec-1994
. .
Cited – Rowell v Hubbard Group Services Ltd EAT 12-Jan-1995
. .
Cited – British Flowplant Group Ltd and others EAT 9-May-1995
. .
Cited – Ormsby v the West of England Shipowners Insurance EAT 8-Nov-1995
. .
Cited – Reeve v Agricultural and Food Research Council EAT 9-Feb-1996
. .
Cited – Armishaw v London Docklands Development Corporation EAT 16-Jan-1996
. .
Cited – Isaac v Badgerline Ltd EAT 16-May-1996
. .
Cited – British Flowplant Group Ltd v Law and others EAT 12-Mar-1997
. .
Cited – British Flowplant Group Ltd v Law and others EAT 16-Dec-1997
. .
Cited – Tabani v United Bank Ltd EAT 21-Jun-1999
. .
Cited – Lloyd v Taylor Woodrow Construction EAT 1-Jul-1999
A defect of the consultation procedure in a redundancy which could make a dismissal unfair, was capable in some circumstances of being corrected by the company in its appeal procedure. The appellant had not originally been informed of the criteria . .
Cited – Cable Realisations Ltd v GMB Northern EAT 29-Oct-2009
The company appealed against the upholding of the union’s claim that the company was in breach of the regulations. The company was to close its factory and decided at first to begin consultations for redundancy, but then looked for a buyer for the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Judicial Review, Administrative
Updated: 30 November 2021; Ref: scu.86211