ABSTRACT
A voluntary conciliation and arbitration service was first established by government in Britain in 1896. During the Second World War this service was augmented by the provision of free advice on industrial relations and personnel matters to employers and unions. In 1960 these functions became known as the Industrial Relations Service, renamed the Conciliation and Arbitration Service (CAS) in 1972 when the duty to conciliate in complaints of unfair dismissal under the jurisdiction of industrial tribunals was added. Although since their inception collective conciliation, arbitration and the advisory services had been provided from a government department, a number of commentators in the late 1960s and early 1970s came to a view that this was making it increasingly difficult for such services to operate effectively. In response to these criticisms in September 1974 the then Secretary of State for Employment established the CAS on an administrative basis as a separate service at arm’s length from government. Renamed the Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service, ACAS was established as a statutory body on 1 January 1976 by Section 1 of the Employment Protection Act 1975.
