In your corner: REC Campaigns and Policy news - 24 February 2022

Parliament returned from a short recess with quite a bang this week – although largely briefed to media last weekend, on Monday, the Prime Minister set out his plan for “living with Covid”. The plan was based on 4 principles:

1.       Remove all remaining domestic restrictions in law.

2.       Protect the most vulnerable with targeted vaccines and treatments, accepting JCVI advice for a new spring booster for those aged 75 and older, older care home residents, and those over 12 who are immunosuppressed.

3.       Maintain resilience to respond to new variants.

4.       Continue the work of the Vaccine Taskforce and Therapeutics Taskforce.

From today, the legal requirement to self-isolate will end. With this, self-isolation support payments will also come to an end, but covid provisions for statutory sick pay can still be claimed for a further month. Until 1 April, anyone testing positive should stay at home, but after that, “it will be down to personal responsibility just as with flu.” On this date, free tests for the general public will also come to an end, although it will be kept in place for older age groups and those most vulnerable to Covid-19.

All remaining legal restrictions had been due to come to an end on 24 March, however the Prime Minister said it was time “to move away from restriction to personal responsibility”, citing a £2 billion per month price tag for lateral flow tests, a cost he said wasn’t sustainable.

Home Office announces grace period for RTW checks
Following calls from the REC, the Home Office has confirmed that the temporary digital right to work (RTW) checks introduced as a response to the pandemic will remain in place until 30 September 2022. This grace period will allow employers time to integrate a permanent digital RTW solution smoothly and fully into their recruitment process from 6 April. The list of IDVT providers for the permanent digital RTW checks is expected to be published in late March/ early April.

The REC will continue to engage with government on the other issues surrounding the new RTW system - namely the cost - and will keep members up to date with any further developments.

The REC meets with Andy Brittain, Director General for Finance at DHSC
On 23 February, the REC met with Andy Brittain, Director General for Finance at the Department of Health and Social Care. We discussed a range of things including the overview and value of the agency workforce and collective and national oversight on the UK’s healthcare labour market that the REC and our members can offer. The REC will continue our conversations with senior members of relevant teams going forward.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Roundtable
Building on our partnership with DWP, the Department is keen to understand how the recruitment industry can work and support Job Centres to find people roles. Just a reminder that they’re keen to host a virtual roundtable for members to help them understand how best to work with Job Centres. If you’re interested in joining, please get in touch with our Director of Campaigns, Shazia Ejaz on Shazia.Ejaz@rec.uk.com.

Skills meeting with BEIS officials
Earlier this week, the team met with officials at BEIS, to discuss labour and skills challenges within the recruitment sector. The department is keen to understand what skills are in high demand, where gaps are, and how members are addressing the issue. This is focused on the recruitment business' demands, not those of their clients.  Anecdotal evidence is also welcome, so please drop us line if you want to share your views on this (policy@rec.uk.com).

Drivers' sector update
One of the main asks of REC's Labour Shortages Campaign for the logistics sector was a review of the Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). It is important to speed up the process to bring new people into the industry. Under current regulations, drivers need to pass 4 Driver CPC tests before starting to drive a heavy goods vehicle (HGV), bus or coach professionally. However, provided that the candidate passes the Driver CPC parts 1, 3a and 3b, a 'national vocational training' (NVT) concession allows them to drive professionally for up 12 months before taking Driver CPC parts 2 and 4. The requirements and documents to apply for the NVT have been updated, including courses and a new form. Click here to find out more.

CCS publishes Invitation to Tender for new framework
CCS has published the invitation to tender for the new CCS framework for schools due to take effect from July this year. The tender process opened on 21st February 2022 and will remain open to agencies wishing to apply until 3pm on 18 March 2022. Information on the tender process and how to submit a bid can be found on the government's Find a Tender and Find a Contract services.

Future Workforce Framework
Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is in the initial phase of developing an agreement which will replace Public Sector Resourcing. The Prior Information Notice has now been published. All public sector organisations can recruit temporary workers to fill professional, managerial, operational, and administrative roles. A single vendor management system (VMS) will track all requests for workers from need, recruitment, time-sheeting, and payment. CCS will be holding market engagement sessions and webinars with suppliers in March and April – you can find more information about when these events are happening here. Suppliers can also sign up to the Expression of Interest if interested in engaging directly with CCS. Lastly, the market survey  provides an opportunity for suppliers to feedback to CCS with views on the current framework.

The REC writes to Andy Haldane, Head of the Levelling Up Taskforce
Last week, Neil Carberry wrote to the Head of the Levelling Up Taskforce at the Cabinet Office. We shared a range of data such as labour and skills shortages survey analysis and the latest Report on Jobs and provided insights into the UK’s labour market across different regions. We also offered our expertise to the Unit for Future Skills which is a new establishment from the Department for Education as part of the Levelling Up White Paper.

REC submission to umbrella company Call for Evidence
Last year, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) set out to bring umbrella companies into statutory regulation, to be regulated by the EAS (or successor - e.g., the Single Enforcement Body). As part of this, BEIS and HMRC opened a call for evidence seeking views on the umbrella company market as part of the process of legislating them. The REC held two member roundtables with officials from BEIS, HMRC and HMT and using your feedback, we’ve sent our submission which you can read here. Our recommendations are focused on ensuring fairness for employment businesses, workers, and all other parties in the supply chain.