The summer is just about over, England are number one at test cricket for the first time is some considerable time and industrial peace has broken out in most of our workplaces. But what is waiting around the corner?

Just as you could not predict the demise of the News of the World or the recent shocking riots, it is difficult to tell what will happen in the autumn. We will be studying the motions and debates at the TUC Congress in September.

Will a more militant approach be adopted or will the unions continue to engage constructively with the government over the budget reductions generally and the future of pensions more specifically? This will shape the collective temperature over the coming months and, to a large extent, our workload in this area so we will be watching the situation carefully.

We also are, of course, awaiting the government's response to the Resolving Workplace Disputes consultation.
 
There has been overwhelming support for the earlier involvement of Acas in conciliation in individual disputes. If the government does opt for this, we will have to redesign the whole process of individual conciliation just as we are rolling out our new IT platform. Who said there is never a good time for change?

In the meantime, let us all enjoy what remains of the summer and wallow in the glory of being number one at cricket (well at least for the time being!)

John Taylor is the chief executive of Acas