Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the provisions of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 on the ability of trade unions to represent their members in workplace disputes.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Strikes Act does not prevent or restrict the ability of trade unions to represent their members in workplace disputes, nor does it remove the ability for strikes to take place. It simply ensures there is a balance between the ability to strike and the need to ensure the public can continue to access essential services during strike action.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department has had discussions with CK Hutchison Holdings in the last year.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment their Department has made of the potential effect of the merger between Three and Vodafone on their Department's contracts with Vodafone.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As an open economy, this Government welcomes and encourages investment where it supports the Prime Minister’s goal of boosting UK growth and jobs, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements, and does not compromise our national security. The Government has robust powers under the National Security & Investment Act, which it introduced, to block or impose remedies on transactions that pose a national security risk.
As you will appreciate, we cannot comment on specific acquisitions nor the applicability of the National Security and Investment regime.
It is the responsibility of Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market, with input from sectoral regulators.