Fire (Scotland) Act 2005

Negotiation of conditions of service

49 Statutory negotiation arrangements

(1) The Scottish Ministers may by order make provision for the establishment of a body of persons (a “statutory negotiation body”), or two or more such bodies, for the purpose of negotiating the conditions of service of employees of relevant authorities.

(2) An order under subsection (1) shall provide for the statutory negotiation body established by it to be composed of—

(a) persons representing the interests of some or all relevant authorities;

(b) persons representing the interests of some or all employees of relevant authorities; and

(c) a person who does not fall within subsection (3), who shall chair the body.

(3) A person falls within this subsection if the person is—

(a) a member or employee of a relevant authority;

(b) a member or employee of a body representing the interests of some or all employees of relevant authorities; or

(c) an office-holder in, or a member of the staff of, the Scottish Administration.

(4) The reference in subsection (2)(b) to persons representing the interests of some or all employees of relevant authorities includes trade unions (as defined in section 1 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (c. 52)) whose membership consists of or includes employees of relevant authorities.

(5) A statutory negotiation body may make arrangements for the purpose of enabling conditions of service of employees of relevant authorities to be negotiated at local level (“local negotiation arrangements”).

(6) Local negotiation arrangements may in particular include provision as to—

(a) the—

(i) persons; or

(ii) descriptions of person,

by whom, or by means of whom, negotiations are authorised to be carried out at local level;

(b) the conditions of service and descriptions of conditions of service authorised to be negotiated at local level.

(7) Local negotiation arrangements may be made by a statutory negotiation body in respect of employees of a particular description only if the statutory negotiation body includes persons representing the interests of employees of that description.

(8) Where there is a statutory negotiation body which includes persons representing the interests of employees of a particular description, an agreement as to the conditions of service of employees of that description which is made by or on behalf of a relevant authority and by or on behalf of employees of the description concerned is a legally enforceable contract only where the terms of the agreement were negotiated—

(a) by means of the statutory negotiation body; or

(b) in accordance with local negotiation arrangements made by the statutory negotiation body in respect of employees of that description.

50 Guidance

(1) A relevant negotiation body shall, in negotiating the conditions of service of employees of relevant authorities, have regard to any guidance given by the Scottish Ministers in connection with that matter.

(2) In subsection (1) “relevant negotiation body” means—

(a) a body established by virtue of section 49(1); or

(b) any other body of persons which—

(i) includes both persons representing the interests of some or all relevant authorities and persons representing the interests of some or all employees of relevant authorities; and

(ii) is constituted in accordance with what appear to the Scottish Ministers to be appropriate arrangements for the negotiation of the conditions of service of employees of relevant authorities.

(3) The reference in subsection (2)(b)(i) to persons representing the interests of some or all employees of relevant authorities includes trade unions (as defined in section 1 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (c. 52)) whose membership consists of or includes employees of relevant authorities.