Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (): The Strikes (Minimum
Service Levels) Bill requires the Secretary of State to consult
with such persons as they consider appropriate prior to making
regulations to establish minimum service levels for relevant
health services in the event of strike action. The regulations
must be approved by both Houses of Parliament before they are
made. The consultation requirements may be fulfilled before and
after the Bill receives Royal Assent. Minimum service levels will
enable employers to issue work notices, ensuring adequate
staffing for a minimum level of safety to be achieved in the
event of strike action.
Minimum service levels aim to limit the impacts of strike action
on the lives and livelihoods of the public and to strike a
balance between the right of unions and their members to strike
with the need for the wider public to be able to access key
services during strikes.
This consultation focuses on minimum service levels for ambulance
services, which the Prime Minister has identified as a priority,
alongside fire and rescue services and rail services. Our
proposal is that ambulance services should be covered in
regulations as a priority recognising that disruption to blue
light services puts lives at immediate risk. This consultation
will help to inform a decision as to whether ambulance services
should be covered by the regulations and if so the detail
regarding the minimum service levels required in the ambulance
service.
The consultation will open today, Thursday 9 of February 2023,
and will be open for a period of 12 weeks, closing on Thursday 4
May 2023.
