Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the viability of establishing a statutory worker buy-out framework.

The Government recognises the important role that employee ownership and co-operative business models can play in supporting business succession and growth.

Our call for evidence on business support for co-operatives and non-financial mutuals sought to gather evidence, including on barriers affecting business conversion and mutualisation. The Government response to this Call for Evidence will be published shortly.

We will continue to consider all options which can help ensure the policy and regulatory environment can best support businesses seeking to transition to employee and worker ownership.