Government and campaigns
This week we launched our Dynamic Labour Markets for Growth Manifesto, which seeks to act as a blueprint for politicians and policymakers to understand the labour market as a catalyst for economic growth. We helpfully throw in specific policy recommendations to help them on their way! The document sets out our key asks for government across 4 key themes:
We have had some engagement from MPs already and will continue to use the manifesto to build relationships across political parties as they cement thinking about their election promises.
This week we have shared our Spring Budget (scheduled for 6 March) asks with the Treasury. Much of our budget submission is heavily influenced by the policies in our new Manifesto, but it also includes recommendations that the current government could enact soon to unleash growth for the labour market. You can read more about our asks in our blog about this or view the full submission here.
Our Campaigns Advisor, Usman Ali, attended the latest Department for Transport (DfT) Future of Freight Council with the new Minister for Roads and Local Transport, Guy Opperman MP. A core priority and focus remains on shortages of drivers and Usman has submitted recommendations to DfT on how to boost the current workforce supply. Any members with insights, please continue to share them with Usman at Usman.Ali@rec.uk.com
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has commissioned the Business Services Association (BSA) to produce a report to better understand the business services sector's requirements, challenges, and aspirations in the UK. The remit of the work is for businesses who work with the public or private sectors to provide key services to the UK. This survey has been developed to form the basis for this report. The survey officially launched this week and will close on the 23 February 2024. The finalised report on business services should be delivered by the 31 March 2024.
Please click here for further information and to submit your response.
The HMRC are hosting a webinar for agencies to educate them about risks posed to them when working with umbrella companies. In the worst cases there is potential for agencies to incur tax liabilities, penalties, and reputational damage. HMRC will also talk about the best practices for safe and compliant worker engagement.
The webinar will take place on 6 February at 10:30 AM-12:00 AM. You can register for the webinar here.
Despite falls relative to the post-pandemic sugar rush years, demand for labour remained strong at the end of 2023, with our latest Labour Market Tracker showing 1.7 million active job postings in December. This reflects a 24.3% decrease on the month before, and a 32% decrease from December 2022. However, when looking at the top ten counties/unitary authorities for growth in active job postings, five were based in London. This suggests a more encouraging trend for the capital’s job market and economy than reported in alternative recent jobs surveys.
Our Chief Executive Neil Carberry was on the BBC News channel giving his take on the ONS’ latest labour statistics. Neil’s view was that the jobs market does now seem to be in a bit of a stand-off with the wider economy, with both employers and candidates waiting to see how the economy develops before committing to new roles. The mainstream and trade media were also very interested in our latest monthly Labour Market Tracker (LMT). The LMT shows that despite falls relative to previous years, demand overall is still substantial with 1.7 million active job postings in December 2023. Our data reports such as LMT add to the government’s understanding of the labour market and provide valuable commercial insight for business, industry and other organisations that rely on labour. They also contribute to more informed public debate about the economy.
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