A plan to restrict future teacher strikes set out by the previous government will be binned, the Labour government has confirmed.
Minimum service levels legislation drafted under the previous administration will be repealed through the Employment Rights Bill, which will be introduced within the first 100 days of the new government, Labour said today.
The confirmation comes after the new government said it would update trade union legislation, including the previous government’s “approach to minimum service levels”, last month.
The Department for Education plan to keep up to around three in four pupils in schools during teacher strikes, as part of its MSL proposal, was first revealed by Tes last year.
Under the plan set out by the Conservative government, employers would identify staff required to work during strike action and issue those employees with work notices.
Plan to limit teacher strikes ditched
At the time, school leaders voiced concern that the legislation would be “used by the government to impose a miserly pay award” for 2024-25. Leaders also warned about discrimination.
The plan drew criticism from the country’s biggest multi-academy trust, which said it would not be issuing “work notices” to employees.
Today, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds wrote to government departments overseeing the sectors most impacted by strikes - including education - detailing that the new government does not support minimum service levels and intends to repeal the legislation.
Ministers have been asked by Ms Rayner and Mr Reynolds to encourage employers to avoid imposing minimum service levels on their workforces.
In a policy paper published by the Department for Business and Trade this week, the government also reinforced that “employment businesses are prohibited from providing agency workers to cover the duties normally performed by a worker of an organisation who is taking part in a strike or other industrial action”.
Last summer, the High Court ruled that a government change in the law that allowed agency workers to cover for striking teachers was unlawful.
The paper added that, while it is not necessary to repeal these regulations, due to the High Court ruling, “the government will formally update Parliament on the position soon”.
They have also written to all 12 metro mayors across the country asking them to engage with local employers on this upcoming change.
Pledge to reset industrial relations
Ms Rayner said: “Attempting to clamp down on the fundamental freedom of working people has got us nowhere, and this was targeted at sectors who dedicate their lives to serving us all.
“That’s why we’re scrapping this pointless law and creating a new partnership between business, trade unions and working people through our New Deal [For Working People].”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, welcomed the scrapping of the legislation, which he said was “a vindictive, ideologic attack on a basic democratic freedom”.
“While strike action is always a last resort, this legislation would have effectively removed the right to strike from most school staff - and especially headteachers, given that most schools only have one such role.”
Mr Whiteman signalled support for the government’s pledge to reset industrial relations “so they are based on good faith negotiations with trade unions and partnership work to address the issue facing public services”.
Updated guidance published last year - setting out how schools should prioritise vulnerable children and those with key worker parents during strikes - is still outstanding and the DfE said there are no updates on this yet.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This government will manage industrial relations differently.”
“Teachers will receive a 5.5 per cent pay award and work is already underway to recruit 6,500 more teachers, ultimately improving children’s life chances and putting education back at the forefront of national life.”
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