Government and campaigns
Last week, the long-awaited NHS Workforce Plan was finally published, with a three-pronged approach to tackle the widespread skills and labour shortages across the NHS. NHS England wanting to reduce expensive staff bills is understandable but has been unachievable because of its failure to attract and retain staff. This has left agencies playing a more crucial role in staffing than originally intended. Rather than sideline the vital contingency workforce, government need to work with employment experts, like recruiters, who can show NHS England how flexible working and more regular pay can be achieved for healthcare workers. More on that, and our other campaigning activity, below!
NHS England announced its long-term workforce plan last week. Headlines include doubling medical school training places, to 15,000 a year by 2031/32; increasing the number of GP training places by 50% to 6,000 by 2031/32; and growing the number and proportion of NHS staff working in mental health, primary, and community care by 73% by 2036/37.
The NHS workforce plan has been billed as a much-needed strategy to ensure the longevity of the NHS workforce. However, we are concerned about the plan's clear intention to reduce agency spending in the NHS, despite agency not being the most expensive option when it comes to staffing. It's time government recognised the value our contingent workforce plays in keeping the NHS on its feet. Further details can be found on our blog here.
Last week, CEO Neil Carberry and Campaigns Manager Sam Beggs travelled to Parliament to meet with the Shadow Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner. In the meeting, we discussed the need for a genuine partnership between policy makers, business, and industry to ensure policies work in practice as well as in theory. The desire for more “social partnership” was shared by Rayner and we discussed the fundamentals of any future Industrial Strategy, which must focus on people. We offered our continued support on issues like workforce planning, enforcement, and Industrial Strategy. The meeting was positive and our offer to help shape policy was well received. Labour is keen to focus more on enforcement, something they’ve asked to continue discussions with REC about.
This week, the REC wrote to the Secretary of State for Business and Trade (DBT) to reiterate our concerns about the Workers (Predictable Terms & Conditions) Bill and the potential impact on the industry, and wider supply chain. We provided evidence from our members about the potential damage the Bill could create and suggested that four amendments be added to the Bill, as it continues to progress through Parliament. The suggested amendments will still help government achieve its ambitions for the Bill but will ensure the genuinely two-sided flexibility that agency workers enjoy is not undermined and will shield agencies from unnecessary administrative burden. You can read the text of the letter here.
The Gangmaster's Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has issued a statement for member's operating in the sector to be aware of tax non-compliance in their supply chains. Members operating in the licenced sector should be taking steps to consider fraud or non-compliance in their supply chains and reporting any potential issues to HMRC. You can read the full statement from the GLAA here.
Acas recently published new guidance on reasonable adjustments for mental health at work, and have a new podcast on the subject. Podcast topics include outlining what reasonable adjustments are for mental health, legal considerations, and supporting health and wellbeing at work.
We have put the case against the ‘ban’ on agency social workers in Northern Ireland on the agenda of media, with the Belfast Telegraph, ITV Northern Ireland and Belfast ‘Live’ reporting our views. Elsewhere, The Times reported on our call to the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee to launch an inquiry into NHS staffing costs.
The REC’s latest Labour Market Tracker showed that there are more than two million active job ads in the UK despite some signs of caution from employers in the face of economic uncertainty. The pullback from cautious employers may impact job seekers used to pushing for better pay, more training and quick hiring decisions. Although the number of active postings in the week of 29 May-4 June 2023 decreased by 2.4% compared to the previous week (22-28 May), this still reflects a significant increase from last year.
Look out for our upcoming Report on Jobs which will be published on 10th July.
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