All 2 Amy Callaghan contributions to the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023

Read Bill Ministerial Extracts

Mon 30th Jan 2023
Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill
Commons Chamber

Committee stage: Committee of the whole House

Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill

Amy Callaghan Excerpts
2nd reading
Monday 16th January 2023

(1 year, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
--- Later in debate ---
Grant Shapps Portrait Grant Shapps
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My hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester is absolutely right about the reason for requiring minimum standards.

Amy Callaghan Portrait Amy Callaghan
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Will the Secretary of State give way?

Grant Shapps Portrait Grant Shapps
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I will in a moment, if I can make a little progress.

Using the powers proposed in the Bill, regulations will set out the specific services within each sector in which a minimum level of service will be applied; they will also set out the levels themselves. Those regulations will be tailored to each relevant service, taking account of the different risks to public safety or the impacts on daily life and on the economy. The Bill is clear, however, that such regulations may be made only after appropriate consultation and the approval of both Houses. Of course, the Government may choose not to use the regulation-making powers in the Bill if adequate voluntary agreements, where necessary, are already in place between employers, the relevant sectors and the relevant unions.

Amy Callaghan Portrait Amy Callaghan
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I thank the Secretary of State for acknowledging my presence in the Chamber after so many attempts to intervene. Will he now pass comment on the fact that life-and-limb cover already exists in legislation and that the true purpose of this shameful Bill is simply to erode workers’ rights?

Grant Shapps Portrait Grant Shapps
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I simply do not accept that point. Although it is true that life-and-limb measures exist, we have seen through the many months of rail closures and the strikes that took place last week and in December that unfortunately minimum service levels in one case, and actually minimum safety levels in another, have simply not been available. I know that Opposition Members do not want to accept this fundamental point, but their constituents’ lives are being put at risk by the NHS’s inability to put the correct cover in place with sufficient notice. They seem to imagine that the Army will just be there at no notice and with no ability to organise which areas of the country it needs to be in. That, I am afraid, is not a practical way to run the—[Interruption.]

Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill

Amy Callaghan Excerpts
Amy Callaghan Portrait Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)
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Just one more time, for the record, will my hon. Friend confirm which party prevented employment law from being devolved to Scotland?

Alan Brown Portrait Alan Brown
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Again, just for the record—I thought I was speaking quite loudly, but just in case Members did not hear what I said—it was indeed the Labour party that blocked employment law from being devolved to Scotland. Hopefully the Labour party will reconsider, now that that is on the record.