In Your Corner - REC Campaigns and Policy News – 16th February

As ever with in the world of politics, there's never a dull moment. Last week, the Prime Minister announced a shakeup to the organisation of his government, with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) being split into three new government departments. These are:

• The Department for Business and Trade. Kemi Badenoch, former Secretary of State for the Department for International Trade, takes the top spot. ​
• The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.​ Grant Shapps, the previous Secretary of State for BEIS, will lead this department.
• The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.​ Michelle Donelan, former Secretary of State for DCMS heads up this department.
• The rest of DCMS continues to operate under the newly constituted Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which Lucy Frazer leads.

Earlier this week, we wrote to the relevant Secretaries of State welcoming them to their posts, sharing our key recommendations, and requesting a meeting so that we can continue to build on our relationship with the former BEIS department. You can download to read Grant Shapps' welcome letter and Kemi Badenoch's welcome letter.

 

Department for Education launches consultation on child and family social worker workforce

The Department for Education (DfE) has proposed a set of ‘national rules on the engagement of agency social work resource’ in the children’s social care sector. The proposals include price caps, a ban on the use of project teams, and restrictions for workers to join an agency. The DfE consultation on this topic applies to England and closes on 11 May 2023. REC encourages our members supplying social workers to participate in addition to the REC's own response to the consultation. We are also in frequent contact with the team at DfE responsible for this, and we will ensure the voice of the industry and members is effectively shared with them. If you work with children’s social workers, please email Yerin at Yerin.seo@rec.uk.com to receive relevant updates. You can view the REC’s initial reaction on the proposal here.

Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) roundtable

Last week, the REC attended the LSIP roundtable in London to play an active role in skills and workforce planning across the city. The roundtable was facilitated by the organisation, BusinessLDN and involved London-based experts from educational providers, employers, social enterprises and the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP). A key REC ask has been to emphasise the role of recruiters in offering regional and localised knowledge. That's why we've engaged with every LSIP operating across England, to highlight the role of recruiters, and see how our members can get involved, if they're not already.

REC attends Digital Identity and Attributes Adoption sprint

Last week the REC attended a meeting held by DCMS to discuss digital identity policy and test the current UK digital identities and attributes trust framework. The REC was invited to this event as a key stakeholder in the introduction of digital identity following our work on the introduction of digital right to work. Following this meeting, we will continue to work with the newly constituted Department for Culture, Media and Sport, who will be continuing this project, to ensure that digital identity works for the recruitment industry.  

Research Corner

The REC’s latest Report on Jobs found that permanent placements fell for the fourth month in a row, but temp billings rose at the quickest rate since last September. Firms instead leaned on temporary workers to fill vacancies due to economic uncertainty and staff shortages. The overall vacancies also expanded at the quickest rate for three months.

Look out for our February Labour Market Tracker and JobsOutlook, which will be published next week.