Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill on provisions in the UK–Japan free trade agreement on the obligations arising from International Labour Organisation membership.

The UK signed the UK–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 23 October 2020. The Government is committed to upholding labour commitments in the CEPA.

We are committed to enhancing labour standards globally, for example by leading the way in negotiating the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention. We were the third country in Europe to ratify the convention in March 2022.

We are confident that the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill is compatible with our international obligations. Many member states of the ILO have minimum service levels covering a range of key services.