Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to (a) minimise disruption caused by industrial action and (b) reach a compromise on outstanding industrial issues.

The Government’s door always remains open. We continue to talk to unions but any settlements must be affordable and not stoke higher inflation.

The Government continues to put contingency plans in place to mitigate the impact of industrial action in the public sector. To help reduce disruption caused by strikes, we lifted in July last year the ban on agency workers being used during industrial disputes. We have also recently introduced in Parliament the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill to ensure that a minimum service is provided in a range of important public services when industrial action takes place in future.