Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's negotiating priorities are during pay negotiations with train drivers' unions.

The Government’s priorities are to resolve the dispute and work with the industry to deliver crucial reform to our railways. The Government has no formal role in the negotiations but has facilitated meetings between Trade Unions and their employers in seeking to bring the disputes to an end. It has always been the role of employers to negotiate with unions, as the pay offers are put forward by the train operators.