ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) was set up in 1974. It was given statutory status by the Employment Protection Act 1975. Most of that Act was repealed in 1992 by the Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 ("TULRCA") which now contains the main statutory provisions relating to ACAS.

Head Office of ACAS is in London and there are regional offices throughout England plus offices in Scotland and in Wales. Each office has a "public enquiry point" and will give free advice on many aspects of employment law and employment related matters generally (see ACAS/addresses, tel & fax nos ).

ACAS has a national public helpline telephone number at 08457 474747.

ACAS produces many useful publications, including "Employing people - the ACAS handbook" and "the Employment Handbook". These (£2 each) and ACAS Annual Reports (free but £1 for p&p) can be obtained from ACAS Reader Ltd (see ACAS/addresses, tel & fax nos ). ACAS also produces three Codes of Practice which must be taken into account by Courts and Tribunals where appropriate (see Codes of Practice ).

ACAS estimates that it saved the UK economy some £25m through effective individual conciliation in 2005/06 (see 2006/12/15 - ACAS Press Release re savings effected through ACAS conciliation).

go to next updated reference in this note.

For further notes on services provided by ACAS see the various sub-sub topics in ACAS/functions of