Last week, Labour’s key policies were set out in the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament. Here are the key policies set to affect our industry…
It feels like the new government is making announcements surrounding legislation everyday at the moment, as the new cabinet finds its feet.
But, what does all of this mean for our industry?
To make things easier, we have hand-picked three new bills that have the potential to shake up the sector:
Skills England Bill – The bill emphasises partnerships with employers and implements reforms to the apprenticeship levy.
As part of this, the Prime Minister has launched Skills England, a new apprenticeship scheme designed to bridge the gap between education and business for young people in the UK.
At the launch of the programme yesterday, the PM said: ‘We are going to make sure that there are highly motivated, ambitious, talented young people who want to work in your business. That is our long-term ambition.
‘We’re going to fire up the training of more UK workers and match peoples’ aspirations, which I know are there, with more opportunity. In doing this we will drive growth.’
You can find out more about Skills England here.
Employment Rights Bill – In the King’s Speech, the monarch stated that: ‘My Government is committed to making work pay and will legislate to introduce a new deal for working people to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights.’
As part of this, the Government is set to:
- Ban exploitative zero-hours contracts.
- End “fire and rehire” and “fire and replace”.
- Make parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal a day one right for all workers (subject to probationary periods to allow employers to assess new hires).
- Remove the lower earnings limit and the waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay.
- Make flexible working the default from day one for all workers.
- Strengthen protections for new mothers, making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who has had a baby for six months after her return, other than in exceptional circumstances.
- Establish a Fair Work Agency to strengthen enforcement of workplace rights.
- Update trade union legislation, removing restrictions on trade union activity and simplifying the statutory recognition process.
National Wealth Fund Bill – Establishes the National Wealth Fund with £7.3 billion to make investments across the UK. It aims to mobilise private sector investment for economic growth and a greener economy.
This fund has now been launched and will be managed at arms-length with the Government using the existing UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB), together with another state lender, the British Business Bank to run the fund.
The National Wealth Fund aims to generate £3 of private sector investment for every £1 it invests, which would unlock a further £20bn funds for priority industries.
