Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of 27 April 2021, Official Report, column 86WH, on the Government's policy on the inappropriate use by some employers of fire and rehire as a negotiation tactic, what steps their Department has taken to (a) investigate and (b) discourage the use of fire and rehire negotiation tactics by their Department's executive non-departmental public bodies; and what steps they have taken to communicate the Government's policy on those practices to those bodies.

The Government has been very clear that threatening fire and rehire as a negotiating tactic is completely unacceptable. MOD always expect employers to treat employees fairly and in the spirit of partnership working with trade unions, where relevant, constructively. The Department is confident that MOD’s non-departmental public bodies (NDPB) are aware of the Government’s position on this matter.

The Department works constructively with each of the NDPBs we have responsibility for, and this includes when it comes to workforce management matters, however each is ultimately responsible for the management of their staff.

The relationship between the MOD NDPBs and the department, is established through their Framework Documents. Managing Public Money sets out that each of the boards of the MOD NDPBs have a responsibility towards its staff for the recruitment, retention and motivation of its staff.