Commenting after the government announced plans to repeal minimum service level legislation which the previous administration had proposed to extend to education,  Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“We welcome the new government’s move to scrap these proposals, which were a vindictive ideologic attack on a basic democratic freedom.

“The ability to freely express an opinion or campaign for change and, to take industrial action when those grievances fall on deaf ears, is a fundamental right in the workplace. While strike action is always a last resort, this legislation would have effectively removed the right to strike from most school staff – and especially head teachers given that most schools only have one such role.

“As important as the move to scrap this law, however, is 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 issues facing public services.

“We look forward to working with ministers to tackle the serious challenges facing our schools, from recruitment and retention, to workload, support for pupils with special educational needs and the really poor state of many buildings.”