Good morning,

After 14 years of Conservative led Government, last week’s General Election heralded a political earthquake, with the Labour Party reversing a significant majority to win a landslide victory in Parliament.

There were plenty of shocks and surprises at the local level too, as smaller parties like Reform and the Greens saw their vote share increase, a series of independent candidates triumphed, and the Liberal Democrats gained their largest number of seats since the early 20th Century.

All of which means we are now faced with the prospect of a radically different Parliament over the next five years. While debates over the significance of Labour’s relatively low vote share in the country may rumble on, the reality is they have a clear mandate and a large majority with which to deliver it.

Recognising the challenges we face

As he stood outside of Downing Street addressing the nation for the first time in office, the new Prime Minister made it clear that meaningful change will take time. But he also recognised that the challenges facing the country are urgent, and action to tackle them is required immediately.

And so we can expect a King’s Speech in July framed around Labour’s five missions for Government: kickstarting economic growth; making Britain a clean energy superpower; increasing safety on our streets; breaking down barriers to opportunity and building an NHS that is fit for the future.

We can also expect legislation and consultation to be rapidly forthcoming on Labour’s New Deal for Working People – including reforms to zero-hour contracts, statutory sick pay and a day one right to flexible working – and, I suspect, immediate action on planning reform and house building.

Navigating early resistance and using evidence to support reforms

These measures will all, in different ways, be met with a degree of resistance and opposition – whether in Parliament or from communities, employers or other stakeholders who stand to be impacted. Labour’s ability to navigate this early opposition, harnessing constructive feedback to improve legislation while delivering on their initial ambitions, will be critical in making progress against the significant issues that the UK faces, and will set the tone for the remainder of the Parliament too.

The Work Foundation has a rich body of evidence, analysis and policy recommendations for policymakers to draw upon as they develop these reforms – from data that helps explain how insecure work plays out across communities, sectors and different demographics, to proposals for how to practically reform zero-hour contracts, improve statutory sick pay and reform the welfare system and employment support to help more people into work.

We have exciting plans to build on this work in the new Parliament, with analysis on in-work progression and how Government and employers can do more to help tackle economic inactivity due to ill health due to be published in the second half of the year. We also have a vibrant events programme planned for Party Conferences this Autumn, with sessions planned at the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Conferences.

If you’d like to explore how you can partner with the Work Foundation across these activities, please do get in touch.

Best wishes,

Ben

Ben Harrison

Director, Work Foundation at Lancaster University

Time Off: Redesigning leave policies to support longer, healthier working lives

Our latest policy briefing investigated whether current time-off policies are sufficient to support an older and sicker workforce stay-in work. Although time off in the UK has become widespread, access to it is unequal.

Our findings show 1.15 million UK workers are not eligible for Statutory Sick Pay as they don’t meet the weekly earnings threshold of £123.

Ineligibility disproportionately impacts groups already facing structural inequalities in the labour market – nearly two thirds are women (69.2%), a third are disabled workers (33%), and over half are young workers aged 16-24 (52.4%).

Figure 1: Workers unable to access statutory sickness pay

If we are to help boost and sustain levels of labour market participation in the future, then the next UK Government must strengthen statutory leave policies through a comprehensive Employment Bill within the first 100 days in office and commission and Independent Review on Statutory Leave and Pay to establish the fairness, flexibility, and suitability of leave for the future labour market.

Labour's New Deal for Working People

The big question being asked by many commentators, and indeed voters, is whether the proposals that Labour offered during the election campaign will be enough to tackle the breadth and scale of policy challenges that the UK now faces.

One such area which I expect will dominate the Parliament is the state of the UK labour market. The UK Insecure Work Index highlights that 6.8 million people in the UK are in severely insecure work – unable to access predictable income or basic employment protections.

Elements of the New Deal can certainly contribute to tackling economic inactivity due to ill health. For example, strengthening sick pay so that those who need it can access it regardless of how much they earn or how long they’ve been sick could help people with a health condition remain in work, and de-risk the prospect of returning for those outside of the labour market. In addition, the most recent data from ONS points to a weakening jobs market in the UK, with employment levels beginning to fall, unemployment and economic inactivity rising, and the number of job vacancies declining.

But in each of these areas the extent to which the New Deal will make a difference depends on the specific choices Ministers make when in Government. In particular, the outcome of consultation processes with employers, unions and other key stakeholders will be critical.

Ultimately, however, these measures will also need to form part of a wider suite of labour market interventions from Government – particularly when it comes to reducing economic inactivity.

Even with an enormous Parliamentary majority, the new Labour Government faces a stark challenge when it comes to improving the UK labour market in the coming years. The territories it has identified for reform are broadly the right ones – but much will depend on how far they are prepared to take those reforms, and their ability to deliver major and complex change in Government.

Read more in my blog: Will the Labour Government’s New Deal for Working People be enough to address the UK’s labour market challenges and improve working lives?

Pathways to work in Barnsley

Over the last year, I have been visiting Barnsley as part of the Pathways to Work Commission, aimed at developing new ideas as to how local and regional policymakers can tackle rising levels of economic inactivity, principally due to ill-health.

I have been particularly interested in how the process of returning to or staying in work can be de-risked for people dealing with long term conditions. This includes changes to both policy as well as employer practice.

Our research on Mayoral Combined Authorities revealed Barnsley is the hotspot in the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority for severely insecure work at 24.9%, which is over five percentage points higher than the national average.

This represents one in four workers relying on jobs that are characterised by low pay and a lack of employment rights and protections. In order to help combat this, action to improve job security and local interventions to ensure people can access the range of health and employment support they need will be crucial. The findings of the Commission are due to be published in July, so do keep an eye out for that.

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Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.