Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to encourage trade union membership to help tackle exploitation in Leicester’s garment industry.

The Government recognises the positive role trade unions can play in the workplace, however collective bargaining is largely a matter for individual employers, their employees and their trade unions. Where possible, industrial relations should be undertaken on a voluntary basis, although if workers want a union to represent them, they have the means to secure this through the CAC statutory recognition procedure.