Socio-economic duty implementation
Failure to enact Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 (socio-economic duty) in England, impacting vulnerable populations.
79 items
2 sources
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Committee recommendation
91match
#13 - EN-7 lacks detailed consideration of the unique socioeconomic impacts of nuclear developments.
As the technology-specific NPS for nuclear, the section of EN-7 dealing with socioeconomic impacts is surprisingly quiet about the factors peculiar to nuclear developments: the long construction timelines, the specialised nature of the labour required, and the enduring presence of infrastructure in host communities. These features distinguish nuclear power from other forms of energy generation and warrant more...
Matched on
terms: economic, socio
Committee recommendation
87match
#14 - Expand EN-7 on socioeconomic impacts specific to nuclear infrastructure for host communities.
EN-7 should expand on the socioeconomic impacts specific to nuclear infrastructure. This includes recognising the long construction periods and the potential for the creation of high-quality, long-term jobs. While EN1 generically acknowledges construction impacts and training opportunities, EN-7 and accompanying guidance should go further in setting expectations for how nuclear developers, in particular, can deliver lasting economic value...
Matched on
terms: economic, socio
Committee recommendation
70match
#3 - Government failed to address concerns over regional economic impact of South East airport expansion.
We heard concerns that if airport expansion is focused around the South East of England it could concentrate wider growth in those regions. This could be detrimental to the aviation and airport sectors, and the local economy, around the rest of the United Kingdom. Whilst there were representations from regional airports in support of South East expansion, we...
Matched on
terms: economic
Committee recommendation
69match
#8 - Commission EHRC to review effectiveness of age discrimination protections in Equality Act.
We recommend the Government commission and fund the Equality and Human Rights Commission to review the effectiveness of protections against age discrimination provided by the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty in England, including but not limited to consideration of: • the implications for older people’s rights, and the enforceability of those rights, of allowing objective justification...
Matched on
terms: duty
Committee recommendation
65match
#7 - Age discrimination law is ineffective, poorly enforced, and fails to protect older people.
There is a wealth of evidence that age discrimination is highly prevalent in the UK and widely perceived as less serious and harmful than other forms of discrimination. Age discrimination law, in particular the allowance of objective justification of direct age discrimination, contributes to this perception. The law as it stands deters discrimination claims on the ground of...
Matched on
terms: duty
Committee recommendation
62match
#15 - Investigate creative mechanisms to ensure local economic value from nuclear developments is captured.
Besides traditional measures like apprenticeship quotas and community benefit funds, the Government should also investigate more creative mechanisms to ensure economic value from nuclear developments is captured locally. This could include doing more to encourage jointly consenting public infrastructure like roads and railways, and exploring fiscal measures like full business rate retention for local authorities. These approaches may...
Matched on
terms: economic
Committee recommendation
61match
#10 - Examine government and UKRI efforts to enhance diversity and inclusion in STEM.
Should our successor Committee wish to consider levels of diversity and inclusion in STEM, we recommend it considers: • Examining whether the trends in STEM education, particularly in subject uptake and attainment, as well as the delivery of STEM curriculum content, have changed since the Committee’s inquiry, and the potential reasons for this; • The role that neurodiverse...
Matched on
terms: implementation
Committee recommendation
61match
#8 - Revisit equality law enforcement regime, clarifying Fair Work Agency and EHRC roles to protect workers.
To ensure long-term enforcement of the new duties on employers introduced in the Employment Rights Bill, the Government should revisit the regime for enforcing equality law and harm against individual protected characteristics, including setting out how the Fair Work Agency will work with the EHRC where their responsibilities overlap. As part of its implementation of employment rights reform,...
Matched on
terms: implementation
Committee recommendation
61match
#2 - Mismanged energy transition risks severe harm to UK economy, jobs, and Scottish communities.
Such an approach is the minimum necessary for a smooth transition of workers, and to avoid the risk of harming UK tax revenues, economic activity, and employment in many Scottish communities, where the effects of the transition will be disproportionately felt. The loss of jobs abroad has detrimental impacts to the UK. This represents not only the loss...
Matched on
terms: economic
Committee recommendation
57match
#9 - Task Acas with leading an information campaign to promote good employment practice compliance.
We recognise that there are a significant number of new employment rights that employers will need to understand and implement. We therefore call on the Government to consider how they use networks of employment support, both statutory and voluntary, to support employers in the implementation. We recommend that the Government task Acas with leading an information campaign to...
Matched on
terms: implementation
Committee recommendation
53match
#10 - Develop a clear, long-term industrial relations strategy, credibly resourced and embedded through collaboration.
The Government’s framework for industrial relations provides strong principles that can help to shape a future settlement based on productive engagement between trade unions and employers. To develop this ambition, we recommend that the Government develops a clear and long- term industrial relations strategy to ensure that implementation of those principles is credibly resourced and embedded through enforcement,...
Matched on
terms: implementation
Committee recommendation
49match
#12 - Amend Trade Union Act sections to improve recognition ballot complaint and limitation periods.
Given that an expected consequence of the Employment Right Bill may be greater recognition ballot activity within workplaces, it is essential that ministers amend section 27B of Schedule 1A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 to provide longer than 24 hours for complaints about the conduct of recognition ballots to be heard and addressed....
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
49match
#121 - Challenge businesses and local government to support financial inclusion for cash-reliant disabled people.
The Department for Business and Trade, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and HM Treasury must work together to challenge businesses and local government to set out how they are supporting financial inclusion, particularly for people who rely on cash due to their disabilities, in line with the Equalities Act 2010. (Recommendation) 48
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
49match
#24 - Jobcentres require deeper integration with voluntary and community sectors to address complex employment barriers.
Many people who use Jobcentres have multiple and complex needs, which can act as barriers to them securing employment. Too often, issues that prevent people from finding jobs go unaddressed. Jobcentres and Jobcentre staff will not be able to address these barriers on their own. If DWP is serious about increasing employment, it will need to look beyond...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
49match
#15 - Ensure clear communication campaigns for oil and gas workers on energy transition job opportunities.
There has been a failure of communication from consecutive governments to oil and gas workers about the transition and what they need to do to prepare and benefit from it. Government action is required to ensure the visibility and promotion of clean energy jobs, as well as to ensure existing workers are aware of the reality of transition...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#30 - Amend Employment Rights Bill Clause 26 to define reproductive health support as advancing gender equality.
Clause 26 of the Employment Rights Bill should be amended to make clear that supporting women with reproductive health conditions falls under the definition of advancing gender equality. (Paragraph 111) 77 Violence against women and girls
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classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#13 - Require transparency for recognition ballot spending and secure a long-term WERS replacement.
It is important that the impact of reform to industrial relations is both measurable and measured. We recommend that the Government bring transparency around industrial disputes in line with best practice elsewhere, including the United States, and requires parties involved in a recognition ballot to disclose spend on materials, consultants and other payments. In addition, we recommend the...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#7 - Publish plans to regulate the umbrella company market and tackle non-compliance.
While compliant umbrella companies can have many benefits to workers, there have been longstanding concerns across governments that the lack of regulation in the umbrella company market can lead to exploitative working practices. The evidence is overwhelming of the need for the Government to properly regulate umbrella companies. The Committee therefore asks the Government, in response to this...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#6 - Prioritise review of worker status and address false self-employment immediately.
While the Committee welcomes the Government’s plans to reform worker status and bogus self-employment, it must proceed at pace to turn ambition into action. If it does not, it risks more companies adopting a ‘self-employment’ model for their workforces to side-step the measures in the Employment Rights Bill. In the words of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement,...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#5 - Remove the 'minimum number of hours' reference from the Employment Rights Bill.
Defining what counts as low-hours creates a loophole that can be exploited by companies to avoid their obligations set out in the Bill. We echo Usdaw’s recommendation that the reference to ‘a minimum number of hours, not exceeding a specified number of hours’ under section 27BA (3) should be removed from the Bill. (Recommendation, Paragraph 27)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#4 - Use delegated powers to enhance protections for agency workers through zero-hours contract reform.
The Committee therefore urges the Government to use the delegated powers provided by the Bill to reform zero-hours contracts to enhance protections for agency workers as soon as possible. These reforms 36 should not be at the expense of the important need for flexibility that eight in ten temp agency workers told REC that their work provides. (Recommendation,...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#3 - Long-term agency work impacts security and risks zero-hours contract side-stepping.
While the Committee understands that certain workers like the flexibility that comes with agency work and that it can be used as a legitimate short- term employment tool for many businesses, we are concerned about the impact long-term agency work could have on people’s security at work. We have heard evidence of misuse of agency workers’ contracts by...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#2 - Embed definitions of 'reasonable notice' and 'moved' shifts into primary legislation.
While the Committee welcomes the added security for workers that the Bill brings with measures to provide reasonable notice of shifts and compensation for cancelled, moved or curtailed shifts. But the lack of key details on the face of the Bill means that Parliament is at risk of signing a regulatory blank cheque for the Secretary of State...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#1 - Define reference periods for the right to guaranteed hours in regulations.
Without a reference period defined in primary legislation, there is a lack of certainty among workers, trade unions and businesses as to how the right to guaranteed hours will work in practice. To ensure certainty, the Government should define as soon as possible through regulations how many weeks the initial and subsequent reference periods should be. (Recommendation, Paragraph...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#13 - Require Government to implement bold Child Poverty Strategy to significantly reduce children's financial hardship.
We urge the Government to be bold in its upcoming Child Poverty Strategy and take wide-ranging action to reverse this trend and significantly reduce the number of children growing up in financial hardship. (Recommendation, Paragraph 29)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#1 - Significant disparities in public transport connectivity exist across UK communities.
In larger cities like London, getting from A to B can be as simple as turning up and boarding. In many smaller towns and rural areas, however, whole communities can be cut off with no service at all, or have services that run so infrequently that they do not meaningfully add to people’s transport options. Devolving greater control...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#31 - Local tailoring of employment services is welcome, but requires balance with national consistency.
We welcome the Government’s commitment to develop a locally tailored and embedded service. Local areas are best placed to understand the needs of their population and labour markets. Jobcentres need to be aware of the different local needs of people in their areas, particularly the needs of those who face additional barriers to entering work. Greater devolution of...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#16 - Previous 'ABC' employment support approach has failed to deliver sustainable work or good outcomes.
The previous Government’s ‘ABC’ approach to employment support (any job, better job, career) has not worked. While it may move people off benefits in the short-term, it all too often does not lead to long-term, sustainable employment and exacerbates the low-pay, no-pay cycle. This is not a good outcome for claimants, employers or the taxpayer. We are pleased...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#7 - Develop a new approach to benefit sanctions, incorporating trauma-informed decisions and updated research.
Sanctions risk undermining the work of Jobcentres and acting against the Government’s employment goals. DWP must develop a new approach to the use of sanctions. It should consider: • adopting a trauma-informed approach to sanctioning decisions; • issuing warnings rather than an immediate sanction; • having the option of non-financial sanctions, where appropriate, such as further mandatory appointments;...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#2 - Publicly consult on claimant commitment changes, replacing blanket requirements with personalised action plans.
Instead of an internal review, DWP should publicly consult on changes to the claimant commitment. DWP should consider removing blanket requirements, such as the 35-hour job search requirement, and replacing them with a personalised action plan that is co-developed between the claimant and work coach, and relevant to the claimant’s skills and experience. (Recommendation, Paragraph 23)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#18 - Establish principles for a just industrial transition drawing on lessons from the Grangemouth case.
In its response to this report, the Government should outline what has been learned from this case and what can be done to ensure that comparable industrial transitions will be better managed in future. Having consulted trade unions and communities during its consultation on Building the North Sea’s Energy Future, we recommend that the Government set out principles...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
45match
#17 - Grangemouth case highlights government inaction on preparing for industrial job losses.
The Grangemouth case is the energy transition’s canary in a coalmine. It has illustrated the need for Government’s active stewardship in the energy transition. Petroineos advised the Committee that the UK and Scottish governments were aware of its plans to cease operations at the refinery five years ago. Both the UK and Scottish governments should have acted sooner...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#21 - Ensure Fair Work Agency has powers and resources to investigate labour exploitation
The Government must ensure that the Fair Work Agency has the necessary powers to deter non-compliance. It must have the authority to investigate all forms of labour exploitation, up to and including modern slavery, and be adequately resourced to fulfil this remit. The Agency must build effective partnerships with the Police and the Home Office to tackle the...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#20 - Creation of Fair Work Agency must not dilute existing enforcement powers
It is crucial that the creation of the Fair Work Agency does not result in a dilution of the powers currently held by the three existing enforcement bodies. (Conclusion, Paragraph 98)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#19 - Set out Fair Work Agency funding target to meet ILO inspector benchmark
The Committee welcomes the Government’s focus on labour market enforcement to tackle non-compliance. However, if the Fair Work Agency (FWA) is to be given new powers it will also need more resource. Efficiencies made from combining current budgets will not be enough. The Government must set out to the Committee its target for funding the FWA so that...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#18 - Effective labour market enforcement is crucial for strengthened worker rights and fair standards
Laws are only as effective as those who enforce them. If the Government wishes to ensure workers are given strengthened employment rights, and that all firms benefit from a level playing field for labour standards, effective labour market enforcement must be prioritised. (Conclusion, Paragraph 94)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#11 - Expand the Bill's definition of 'Access' to explicitly include a union's right to digital access.
More should be done to ensure that the new right of union access proposed in the Bill is protected against future changes to ways of working and the risk of non-compliance. We recommend that the Bill’s proposed definition of ‘Access’ should be expanded to make explicit mention of a union’s right of digital access. (Recommendation, Paragraph 59)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#2 - Develop a comprehensive plan to increase cadet numbers, ensuring diversity, volunteer support, and safeguarding.
The government’s plans to increase the number of cadets by 30% by 2030 face several significant barriers. There are potentially great benefits for young people in expanding the cadet forces, which will mean increasing both the size and number of cadet units. Cadet forces can enhance social mobility and give confidence and structure to the most disadvantaged young...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#30 - Reduce visibility of security guards in Jobcentres, ensuring a more welcoming entry experience.
Jobseekers are not criminals and shouldn’t be greeted at Jobcentres by security guards. DWP should make security guards much less visible in Jobcentres, with a more welcoming presence when people enter. (Recommendation, Paragraph 133)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#29 - Develop a comprehensive plan to ensure every Jobcentre meets full accessibility requirements immediately.
It is not acceptable that some Jobcentres remain inaccessible to some of the people who most need their support. In its response, DWP should set out its plan for ensuring that every Jobcentre meets full accessibility requirements. (Recommendation, Paragraph 132)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#28 - Detail plans for revitalising the Jobcentre estate, ensuring adaptability and co-location of services.
In its response to this report, DWP should set out how it will use its increased capital funds to revitalise the Jobcentre estate. DWP needs to make more of its Jobcentre spaces and it should make sure that the physical infrastructure is adaptable to local needs and can support co- location of services. It should also explain how...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#27 - Jobcentre environments often lack accessibility and welcome, undermining efforts to support claimants.
Jobcentres are not places that people want to go to. They are often run-down and lack basic facilities, including accessibility features. An intimidating security presence can create additional barriers for some. It will be important that when people walk through the door of the new service, it does not look and feel similar to now. Such an outcome...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#26 - Introduce Jobcentre outreach work as a core service, taking support into local communities.
DWP needs to break Jobcentres out of their four walls. It should make outreach work, with staff taking Jobcentre services into the community and to locations that people trust, a core part of the new service. DWP should include larger-scale outreach work in its pathfinders for the new jobs and careers service. (Recommendation, Paragraph 122)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#21 - Any job' approach has alienated employers and undermined Jobcentre engagement efforts.
The ‘any job’ approach has not just been detrimental to claimants: it has also led employers to stop engaging with Jobcentres. Employers will use Jobcentres if it helps them find good employees, but their experience of Jobcentre candidates is often of people forced to apply just to meet benefit conditions. Efforts by DWP to engage with employers risk...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#20 - Add long-term employment and job quality metrics to Jobcentre performance framework and incentivise providers.
To encourage Jobcentres to adopt longer-term thinking, DWP should add long-term employment metrics to its Jobcentre performance monitoring framework, such as whether people are still in work six or twelve months after leaving Jobcentres. DWP should also introduce metrics that can measure job quality, in addition to the information it already collates on increasing earnings. DWP should ensure...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#19 - Jobcentres prioritise short-term off-flows instead of sustainable, good-quality employment for claimants.
We welcome the Government’s focus on ‘good work’. Currently, Jobcentres too often prioritise short-term measures, such as benefit off-flow, rather than whether claimants enter good-quality, sustainable employment. Good jobs are better for citizens, employers and the state, while supporting a productive economy. DWP has the opportunity to bring the good work agenda to life through its Jobcentre reforms....
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#6 - Current application of benefit sanctions is ineffective and damages trust in Jobcentres.
Sanctions are the sharp end of benefit conditionality. DWP’s own evidence shows that sanctions don’t work, causing people to move more slowly into work and to earn less. While sanctions have a place in the benefits system, there is clear evidence that their current application is not working. A more limited and sensible use of sanctions would go...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#3 - Introduce an employment support guarantee detailing personalised support from new jobs service.
To demonstrate the Government’s commitment to supporting rather than coercing people into employment, it should introduce an employment support guarantee that sets out the personalised support and advice people can expect to receive from the new jobs and careers service. (Recommendation, Paragraph 24)
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#16 - Conduct a communications campaign informing oil and gas workers about energy transition job opportunities.
As part of its North Sea transition plan, we recommend that the Government conduct a communications campaign about the scale of the energy transition and the employment opportunities available, directed at both oil and gas workers and new entrants to the sector. This should include information about skills transferability between oil and gas and other sectors and should...
Matched on
classifier match
Committee recommendation
41match
#13 - Retaining oil and gas worker skills is vital for Scotland's energy transition.
It is vital that the skills of workers who have made Scotland’s oil and gas industry successful are not lost. We welcome the efforts of both governments to support the development of clean energy jobs and the transfer of skills from the oil and gas sector to other industries. In particular, 57 we welcome the establishment of the...
Matched on
classifier match