APSCo responds to King’s Speech

Responding to the King’s Speech and the policies announced by the new Labour Government, Tania Bowers, Global Public Policy Director at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) comments:

Today’s announcement largely verifies the main policy promises that were outlined in Starmer’s manifesto. It’s clear that regulation of the labour market and the recruitment sector are at the forefront of the Labour Government’s plans and there are a number of policy announcements that we welcome.

Given the widespread skills shortages noted across the UK, the establishment of Skills England and the reform of the Apprenticeship Levy which will see a Growth and Skills Levy introduced are all promising moves. Of course, the Employment Rights Bill and the launch of the Fair Work Agency are the primary and more urgent elements of the King’s Speech that the recruitment sector will be closely monitoring. There is an understandable level of trepidation from our members around the extent of the planned changes to workers’ rights and the impact these will have on temporary recruitment costs. There will need to be sufficient lead time to renegotiate contracts effectively as a result, but APSCo will be involved in the planned consultations around these changes to ensure the staffing sector isn’t unfairly impacted.

Having previously been an advocate of the Single Enforcement Body, the introduction of the new Fair Work Agency watchdog is something we welcome in principle, but again we are keen to engage on the detail. And while Off Payroll is seemingly here to stay, the pledge to consult on employment status - including the definition of genuine self-employment - is a prime opportunity to bring the conversation back to the table and ensure allowances are made for highly skilled self-employed professionals. As we have long demonstrated, there are significant nuances in the protections required for agency workers and the highly skilled workforce that need to be written into employment law.

The staffing sector thrives on a growing economy, so if investment is being channelled into the right fast-growth, high tech and specialised sectors, our members should see a significant boost in opportunities. This is, of course, reliant on access to highly skilled contractors which the overarching industrial strategy and skills & immigration actions will deliver. Having influenced these policies at APSCo already, we plan to continue to steer the conversation to ensure skills growth and employment law policies are fair and appropriate in the modern landscape.

It will be important to get the regulatory balance right to give the economy the boost it needs – supporting and differentiating skilled contracting from general agency and gig economy work and avoiding excessive business costs. As a global body, we see this as a global challenge and it is our role to articulate our sector's unique viewpoint.