Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether rights for trade unions to access workplaces will allow trade union representatives to access workplaces (a) during strike days and (b) to influence strike ballots taking place in the workplace.

The Employment Rights Act 2025’s provisions on access set out that trade union access cannot be used for the purposes of organising industrial action (70ZA(7) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992). Doing so would be considered a breach of the access agreement. However, the union could still be entitled to access a non-striking group of workers in the same workplace for any of the access purposes set out in section 70ZA (6) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, and in accordance with the terms of the access agreement.