In your corner- REC Campaigns and Policy news June 2022

There’s certainly been no shortage of political machinations since our last update. The Prime Minister narrowly avoided an early end to his premiership, winning the Parliamentary Conservative Party’s no-confidence vote by just 59%. Winning this ballot might mean he's 'safe' from another vote for the next 12 months but as any political commentator will tell you, losing the confidence of 148 of your own MPs is a considerable blow to any sitting Prime Minister’s authority.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £15 billion package of measures to help those affected by the cost-of-living crisis, which included a £400 energy discount for all UK households and a one-off £650 payment for those on means-tested benefits. While these measures will undoubtedly help many who are struggling, this week’s OECD forecast of 0% UK 2022 GDP growth showed in no uncertain terms, the very real risk of recession – and the further support that will be needed.

Proposed repeal of ban on agency workers covering strikes

Over the weekend, the government proposed changes to legislation that would repeal the current ban of agency staff being used to fill in for employees who go on strike. The REC is strongly against these proposals and will oppose them wholeheartedly. Repealing this ban would put agencies and agency workers in an unfair position and would shift the focus during an industrial dispute away from trying to resolve the issues between the employer and worker.

The REC has written to the Minister for Labour Markets, Paul Scully MP, to make our position on this issue clear.

Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS) publishes annual report

EAS have published their annual report on their performance and achievements for 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. Some of the key headlines from the report are:

• EAS cleared 1800 complaints, broadly in line with 2019/20 and despite the challenging conditions. 
• Completed 177 targeted inspections.  
• Found 900 infringements and issued 267 warning letters.  
• The total amount of money recovered for workers was £132,570, an increase of 122% on 2019/20. EAS also sought legal advice on 22 cases, resulting in 2 successful prosecutions, 3 prohibitions and 1 LMEO.

The full report can be viewed here.

EAS webinars for members

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is hosting two webinars for REC members in July. On 21 July, officials will talk members through what a compliant Key Information Document (KID) looks like, the common non-compliance issues EAS see and what responsibilities the employment business has. The webinar is running from 3-4pm and you can sign up here.

On 27 July, officials will talk to employment businesses about Regulation 10 and explain the legal restrictions on charging transfer fees to hirers and the steps members need to take to ensure that any transfer fees they wish to charge a hirer are enforceable. The webinar Is also running from 3-4pm and you can sign up here.

Education Sector Group Meeting

Our next Education sector meeting will be taking place on 21^stJune. Join us for the latest legal and campaigns updates affecting the sector, including updates on data protection, right to work and diversity & inclusion. Our legal team will also be taking an in depth look at the Agency Worker Regulations and how these apply to supply teachers including case studies and updates on the latest case law in this area. HMRC will also be joining us to discuss umbrella companies and other related models, and what agencies should look out for when engaging supply teachers in this manner.

This meeting will be held virtually, and you can register to attend here.

Construction Sector Group Meeting

Our next Construction sector meeting will be taking place on 21 June. Join us for the latest legal and campaigns updates affecting the sector, including updates on right to work, our campaign work on skills shortages, and the impact of green within the sector.

This meeting will be held virtually because of rail strikes, and you can register to attend here.

Healthcare campaign seeking a fundamental review of frameworks and price caps

Throughout April and May 2022, the REC has been busy reaching out to a wide range of key stakeholders in relation to NHS England and Improvement (NHSE/I)’s price card for agency workers. Since our last blog, we have written to the Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP and urged the committee to listen to the voice of the REC and members during the ongoing inquiry into the healthcare workforce. You can view the letter here which was  also shared with teams in No 10, the Cabinet Office, the Shadow health team and all MPs on the select committee. 

REC Member speaks to BEIS Select Committee

On Tuesday, REC member Danny Brooks, CEO of VHR, represented the industry at a session of the BEIS Select Committee. He gave evidence on the labour shortages in the air travel sector. He set out the major factors contributing to the shortages and some potential solutions that employers in the industry should take to improve the situation. You can watch the full session here, with Danny’s session starting around 11:02.

High Potential Individual visa route goes live

The previously announced High Potential Individual (HPI) visa has now launched for people who attend elite international universities. The HPI visa gives you permission to work in the UK for 2 or 3 years if you have graduated from ‘an eligible university’ in the last five years. A major difference from the Skilled Worker Visa is that on the HPI visa you can move to the UK without a job offer and are free to look for a job while living in the UK. More information about the visa and the list of eligible universities can be found here.

BEIS Select Committee launches an inquiry into the UK labour market

Last month, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee launched an inquiry into the UK’s labour market in light of the severe skills and labour shortages hindering economic recovery and growth. The REC is in the process of drafting our submission. REC members and other businesses are encouraged to provide evidence by 8 July 2022.You can find more information about the call for evidence here. If you'd like to feed into our submission, please contact Sam on sam.beggs@rec.uk.com

Help the Department of Health improve their data on Covid vaccination

The Department of Health and Social Care is urging agencies and agency workers in social care to share their information on Covid-19 vaccination rates, so the data is accurately collected for the Capacity Tracker. The Capacity Tracker is completed by the ‘service managers’ from the care providers, such as care home managers, who agency staff may work closely with. The department is encouraging agency workers to share their vaccination status with the service managers and that service managers update the Tracker which will help the department maintain and improve the quality of the data. For further queries or questions, you can reach the relevant team via covidvaccineASC@dhsc.gov.uk

Get your views heard on international recruitment in healthcare 

NHS framework provider, Workforce Alliance, is looking for views from agencies and suppliers about the UK's international Recruitment offering. REC healthcare members can share their views via this survey which only takes a couple of minutes. If you are interested, please complete the survey by 5pm on 17 June.

Media Corner

On Friday, our latest Report on Jobs data was covered by a number of outlets including the Guardian, Reuters and The Times. Over the weekend, the REC hit back against government plans to potentially repeal the ban on agency workers replacing people who are on strike. Neil Carberry set out our stance on BBC News, and our response was also included in articles in City AM and the Mirror.

On Tuesday, Neil was on BBC News again, this time talking through the latest ONS labour market figures on World Business Report. His comments were also included on the BBC News website and the Independent. Finally, the REC Chief Executive spoke to the Telegraph about the current shortages hitting airlines and airports, and some of the ways the sector is trying to solve them.

Research Corner

The KMPG and REC’s latest UK Reports on Jobs pointed to a further slowdown in hiring activity midway through the second quarter of the year. Recruiters noted the softest upturn in permanent placements and temp billings since early-2021, with a number of panellists stating that candidate shortages had hampered their ability to fill roles. Overall candidate availability continued to fall sharply, albeit at the weakest rate since January.

The REC is also publishing the latest Labour Market Tracker tomorrow, so keep an eye out for the latest insight into how the jobs market is evolving.