The Central Arbitration Committee has issued a plain filing instruction: all applications and complaints should first be submitted electronically to enquiries@cac.gov.uk. The notice sits on GOV.UK under CAC news and was first published on 17 March 2020. The page was updated again on 24 July 2026, and the direction remains unchanged. For readers dealing with live workplace disputes, that confirms email remains the committee’s stated starting point for formal submissions. (gov.uk)
The administrative point matters because the CAC is not a general contact desk. GOV.UK describes the committee as an independent body with statutory powers that resolves collective disputes in England, Scotland and Wales, either by voluntary agreement or, where needed, through a legal decision. Its responsibilities include statutory trade union recognition, disclosure of information for collective bargaining, and applications or complaints linked to information and consultation arrangements. A short contact notice therefore carries procedural weight for unions, employers and representatives using those routes. (gov.uk)
Related GOV.UK material shows the breadth of the casework that may feed into that inbox. CAC pages cover disclosure of information complaints under section 183 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, alongside applications and complaints under Regulations 15(1), 22(1) and 26(2) of the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004. Those pages do not replace the need for the correct statutory form, but they show the legal routes from which filings can arise. They also repeat the same enquiries@cac.gov.uk address for accessible-format requests, reinforcing the role of a single published contact point across the committee’s case material. (gov.uk)
The wording of the notice is narrow but important. It says applications and complaints should "firstly" be submitted electronically, which indicates an intake step rather than a separate legal test or a new category of case. That reading is supported by the surrounding GOV.UK material, which continues to organise CAC work by statutory route and form rather than by multiple public-facing submission addresses. The practical message is straightforward: the case begins with an email submission, after which the committee can direct the matter through the right process. (gov.uk)
The same contact pattern appears outside the applications notice itself. The CAC complaints procedure says most service complaints should first be raised with the person handling the matter, but otherwise may be sent to enquiries@cac.gov.uk. Other CAC pages direct users to email for accessible documents and information requests, while the publication scheme explains that guidance and application forms are published on GOV.UK and that hard copies may also be available. That supports the view that the committee is operating a published, email-led administrative process around its case materials. (gov.uk)
For Policy Wire readers, the notice is best understood as an operational clarification, not a policy shift. It does not alter the statutory subjects the CAC handles, and it does not announce a change to the legal grounds on which complaints or applications may be brought. Its value lies in reducing procedural uncertainty. Advisers, employers, worker representatives and trade unions preparing a CAC case still need the right form and legal basis, but the government’s current instruction is clear about where the submission should be sent first. (gov.uk)