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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring that the Government hold discussions with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service before applying the provisions of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill.

This Government has been clear that it does not want to use this legislation in a service area unless it has to.

The legislation is also clear that before making regulations setting out what is an appropriate minimum level of service in a particular area the Secretary of State must consult such persons as they consider appropriate.