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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to enforce laws surrounding trade union consultation; and what plans they have to ban the practice of fire-and-rehire.

The Government has been consistent in condemning the inappropriate use of firing and rehiring tactics during negotiations. As the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State wrote in the other place on Tuesday 29 March, the Government will now bring forward statutory code later this year, under section 203 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Under section 204 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, the Secretary of State is required to publish a draft and consider any representations. The Department will engage with trade unions as part of that consultation. The scope of the Code and its remedies will be in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The Legislation to lay the code will be introduced when parliamentary time allows and will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.