Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department's consultation entitled Make Work Pay: Right of Trade Unions to Access Workplaces, published on 23 October 2025, what discussions he has had with business organisations about the raising of the threshold to exempt SMEs with a headcount less than 250 employees.

As part of the consultation process, we engaged with business organisations and unions on proposals put forward in the public consultation, including the proposed exemption from statutory access provisions for employers of a certain size. We are carefully reviewing all responses to this consultation and will publish a formal response in due course.