Explanatory note

Section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires an employer to allow time off during working hours, subject to the provisions of the section, to an employee who is a justice of the peace or a member of one of the bodies set out in section 50(2). A “relevant education body” is listed as one of these bodies at section 50(2)(f).

Section 50(9) lists the organisations that are included in the definition of a “relevant education body”, including, at section 50(9)(d), a school board within the meaning of section 1(1) of the School Boards (Scotland) Act 1988.

The Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 replaces “school boards” with “parent councils”. This Order consequentially modifies section 50(9)(d) by substituting “parent councils” for “school boards”.

A Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment of the effects of this substitution has been placed in the libraries of both houses of parliament. Copies are available to the public from the Employment Relations Directorate, Department of Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET and on the DTI website at www.dti.gov.uk.