Employment Rights Bill Report Stage: Amendment 297

Parliament voted on 12 March 2025 to reject Amendment 297 to the Employment Rights Bill, which would have locked in the existing legal requirement for trade unions to give 14 days' notice before taking strike action. The amendment was defeated by 328 votes to 167. The practical effect of the amendment's defeat is that the government retains the power to set notice periods for industrial action by regulation, rather than having the 14-day minimum fixed in primary legislation. Supporters of the amendment argued that a guaranteed fortnight's notice gives public services such as the NHS, schools, and transport providers time to make contingency plans, reducing disruption to patients, commuters, and children. By voting it down, the Commons left the notice period open to future adjustment without further primary legislation. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 279 Labour MPs and 27 Labour and Co-operative MPs voted against the amendment, as did the SNP, Plaid Cymru, and the Greens. The Conservatives (94 votes), Liberal Democrats (62 votes), and Reform UK (5 votes) all voted in favour, along with the Democratic Unionist Party (3 votes) and a small number of independents. There were no cross-party rebellions recorded within the governing party. The amendment sits within a broader set of changes to trade union law in the bill, which also repeals the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 and rolls back provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016.