Minimum Service Levels to Go as Government Confirms Strikes Act Repeal

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Business Secretary wrote to the departments whose sectors are most affected by strikes, covering education, health, transport, the Home Office and energy, as well as to the Welsh and Scottish governments and all 12 metro mayors, to say that the government does not support minimum service levels and intends to repeal the legislation.

What the Strikes Act allowed

The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023, inserted new provisions into the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. It allowed the Secretary of State to make regulations setting minimum service levels in six categories: health services, fire and rescue, education, transport, decommissioning of nuclear installations and management of radioactive waste and spent fuel, and border security. Where regulations applied, an employer could give a trade union a work notice identifying the people required to work during a strike.

Regulations were made for passenger railway services, NHS ambulance and patient transport services, and border security. The government said no employer has used minimum service levels and that they have not resolved any strikes.

What employers should do now

Until repeal, the Act and its regulations remain on the statute book. However, ministers in health, the Home Office, education, transport and energy have been asked to tell employers that the government strongly encourages discussion with trade unions instead of using minimum service levels. The Home Office is also writing to the four Border Force trade unions to confirm that border security minimum service levels will no longer be used.

What happens next

Employers in the affected sectors should expect the repeal provisions to appear in the Employment Rights Bill this autumn, alongside wider reforms to industrial relations. In the meantime, public sector employers will want to review any contingency plans that relied on work notices and focus on negotiated arrangements for covering essential services during industrial action.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Public services back on track as Strikes Act to be repealed
• legislation.gov.uk: Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 (as enacted)