Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will list the consultations his Department is undertaking in connection with the Employment Rights Bill; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of each listed consultation.

The department launched an initial package of three public consultations last October covering: the application of zero hours contracts measures to agency workers; creating a modern framework for industrial relations; and, strengthening remedies against abuse of rules on collective redundancy and fire and rehire. These consultations closed in December and the department will publish responses in due course. The department does not routinely collate information on the specific cost of running such consultations.

We have committed to full consultation on the implementation of this legislation, and expect this to begin this year, ensuring reforms work for employers and workers alike.