The Central Arbitration Committee has issued a concise procedural notice stating that all applications and complaints should first be submitted electronically to enquiries@cac.gov.uk. On GOV.UK, the instruction appears as a case-administration update rather than a policy announcement, and it is framed as the expected first step for parties bringing matters to the CAC. (gov.uk)
The official GOV.UK page shows the notice was first published on 17 March 2020 and updated on 26 August 2026. That timing matters because it confirms the email-first route remains the current published instruction, rather than a superseded contact arrangement or an archived notice. (gov.uk)
For employers, employees and representatives, the practical reading is straightforward: the initial filing channel is electronic submission to the published enquiries mailbox. Separate GOV.UK guidance on information and consultation cases says the CAC will acknowledge an application or complaint and invite the other party to respond, placing the email submission stage at the start of the wider case-handling process. (gov.uk)
The notice is narrow in scope. It does not create a new jurisdiction, revise eligibility rules or alter the statutory forms attached to different complaint types. Related GOV.UK materials continue to distinguish between multiple applications and complaints under the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004, which indicates that the change is about administrative routing rather than substantive rights. (gov.uk)
That distinction matters for case preparation. Parties still need to identify the correct form and legal route for the matter in question, but the CAC's published contact point for first submission is clear. Where there is uncertainty over which form to use or how to complete it, existing GOV.UK guidance directs parties to contact the CAC through the same enquiries address. (gov.uk)
For a policy-literate audience, this is procedural housekeeping rather than policy reform. The CAC's broader remit, described in recent official reporting, covers statutory recognition and related employment-relations disputes; this update simply standardises how applications and complaints should arrive at the outset of that process. (gov.uk)