Minister of State (): I am pleased to inform the House of the laying of
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels: Passenger Railway Services)
Regulations 2023 before Parliament, following publication of the
response of the Department
for Transport (DfT) to its consultation on implementing minimum
service levels (MSLs)
for passenger rail. This represents an important step towards
meeting the government’s manifesto commitment.
The government is focused on making the hard but necessary
long-term decisions that are in the best interests of the country
to put the UK on the right
path for the future. The railways enable millions every day to
travel to work, access vital services like education and
healthcare, and visit family. They also provide choice about
where to live and work. Passengers, however, are unable to go
about their daily lives when unions take strike action. Rail
workers deserve a fair deal, but it is not fair to let the trade
unions undermine the livelihoods of others. Minimum service
levels already operate in Italy, Spain and other countries. There
are a number of different approaches to deploying minimum service
levels for transport and we have developed a specific approach
that will work for passenger rail in the UK.
The government is firmly committed to striking a fair balance
between delivering benefits to passengers, supporting them to
make important journeys and the ability of rail workers to take
strike action. The public needs reliable and consistent services,
and any strike action should not disproportionately impact this
or the wider economy.
The consultation response sets out the evidence received from the
public consultation and further engagement, as well as the
approach to specifying the relevant passenger rail services and
designing the minimum service levels that can be applied to
strikes affecting those services.
The regulations will apply in England, Scotland and Wales and
specify 3 categories of services that will be in scope: train
operation services, infrastructure services and light rail
services. Each category has a separate MSL. We have designed the
regulations in this manner to address the particular nature of
strike action in passenger rail while ensuring that MSLsare proportionate and
operationally viable for in-scope employers given the complex
nature of the rail industry.
Relevant rail industry employers are able to make use of
MSLs as soon as these
regulations come into force, which is anticipated to be in early
December, subject to Parliamentary approval.
