Cabinet Office Statement of Practice on Staff Transfers 2000 (revised 2007)

The last Labour Government introduced two codes which were designed to ensure that TUPE  applied to staff transfers in the public sector even where on a strict application of the regulations they would not apply.

The first was the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice on Staff Transfers in the Public Sector published in January 2000 and revised in November 2007, sometimes known as COSOP. This applies to Central Government Departments, Agencies, Public Private Partnerships and the NHS.

 

Code of Practice in Workforce Matters in Public Sector Service Contracts

The second code that was introduced was the Code of Practice in Workforce Matters in Public Sector Service Contracts (the “Code”) which was introduced in March 2005.   This Code was withdrawn in December 2010.

The Code applied to public sector service contracts (generally but not only service provision changes) that involved a transfer of staff from the public sector to private service providers, or in which staff originally transferred from the public sector as a result of an outsourcing were TUPE transferred to a private provider under a retender of a contract.

The Code has been replaced by The Cabinet Office Principles of Good Employment Practice which sets out voluntary principles that are intended to be regarded as good practice.