Starmer - the man on five missions

All eyes in the political world were firmly on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer this morning as he set out his five national missions for the UK, under a Labour government. Starmer made clear that his missions were about "long-term change" and a "decade of renewal" but also recognised the need for short-term solutions, and the steps required to get there.

So, what's Starmer's agenda?

Unsurprisingly, Starmer accused the Conservative government of being “out of ideas” and too “closed in on themselves” to act constructively for Britain. The speech was an opportunity for Starmer to talk about future growth which he called the "oxygen" for Labour's ambitions. He also talked about the importance of growth going beyond just London and the South East, saying unless we have growth in every part of the country, it's meaningless to thousands of people. It was also another chance for the leader to set out his party's credentials as being pro-business as he focused on the importance of partnership. Starmer set out five missions for his "mission-driven government":

1. To ensure the UK has the highest growth in the G7
2. To build an NHS fit for the future
3. To make Britain's streets safe through necessary reforms of the criminal justice system
4. To break down barriers to success and opportunity for every child, and 
5. To make Britain a clean energy superpower

REC’s view

We are particularly pleased to hear Labour's emphasis on 'joined-up thinking' and cross-cutting collaboration between the government, industry and business leaders - a key recommendation in our 'Overcoming Shortages'. In addition, our report also focused on the importance of greater devolution, particularly on things like skills policy, where local businesses, local authorities and local people can share their expertise about the support needed to boost growth and opportunities for all. Against a backdrop of labour and skills shortages, it's so important that local labour market experts - recruiters - are involved in these discussions, sharing real-time insights about skills and opportunities and getting more people into good work.

We're also pleased to hear reforms around apprenticeships and childcare support explicitly mentioned. We know Labour plans to reform the Apprenticeship Levy - a long-term ask of the REC - and we hope that their proposed 'Growth and Skills' Levy will resolve the ongoing issues with the existing Levy, promote investment in people, and work for everyone in the labour market, including temporary workers.

In our Spring Budget submission, we've specifically called for extra support on childcare, and we've fed our views on this directly to Bridget Phillipson MP, Shadow Education Secretary. High childcare costs hamper productivity and future growth as fewer people participate in the labour market. Taking action on childcare support doesn't just help working parents, it's also vital for the over 50s staying in work. There's a role for employers to incentivise older workers to stay on through work design and flexibility, but without action on childcare and social care, many over 50s who have caring responsibilities for grandchildren and elderly parents, are going to continue leaving the workforce. It's encouraging to hear Labour recognising this.

As we focus on achieving growth, it's great to hear about long-term planning, specifically, the development of an industrial strategy, one that is strategically aligned with green jobs, resonates with us and our campaigning priorities for 2023.

Developing REC's Positioning with Labour

The REC is in the process of feeding into Labour's policy development process via the National Policy Forum, which will help build Labour's positioning. The consultation forum closes on 17 March 2023. The areas of focus include:

• Delivering growth
• The everyday economy
• Empowered communities
• Prevention, early intervention and better public services for all
• Supporting families
• Trade policy

Please share any views with us that you would like us to feed through to Labour, email policy@rec.uk.com.