Employment and Skills Bulletin
National Policy Developments
The Enterprise Bill receives Royal Assent and becomes the Enterprise Act (BIS)
The Enterprise Bill has received Royal Assent and become the Enterprise Act. It introduces a number of measures that will affect the public sector including targets for the number of apprentices employed, placing a limit on the value of exit payments for public sector employees and creation of an information gateway to facilitate improved sharing of business rates information between public bodies.
Trade Union Act becomes law (BIS)
People will be protected from undemocratic industrial action as theTrade Union Billreceived Royal Assent and becomes the Trade Union Act. The government announced a series of modernising reforms last year to ensure strikes can only go ahead as a result of a clear and positive democratic mandate from union members. The Trade Union Act will ensure industrial action only ever goes ahead when there has been a ballot turnout of at least 50 per cent.
Business Secretary fast tracks investigation into BHS administration (BIS)
Business Secretary Sajid Javid has instructed the Insolvency Service to fast-track its investigation into BHS. Mr Javid has instructed the Insolvency Serviceto fast-track its investigation, which will also specifically consider the extent to which the conduct of the directors of BHS led to its insolvency. He has asked that the investigation look at not only the conduct of the directors at the point of its insolvency, but also of any individuals who were previously directors and whether their actions may have caused detriment to its creditors – this includes detriment to any employees who are owed money.
Two thirds of large UK businesses hit by cyber breach or attack in past year (DCMS)
Britain’s businesses are being urged to better protect themselves from cyber criminals following government research. Britain’s businesses are being urged to better protect themselves from cyber criminals after government research into cyber securityfound two thirds of large businesses experienced a cyber breach or attack in the past year. The research also shows that in some cases the cost of cyber breaches and attacks to business reached millions, but the most common attacks detected involved viruses, spyware or malware that could have been prevented using the Government’sCyber Essentialsscheme.
News and Views
Elections: Labour’s Sadiq Khan elected London mayor (BBC news)
Labour’s Sadiq Khan has been elected the new mayor of London, beating Conservative Zac Goldsmith by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614. Mr Khan’s victory ends eight years of Conservative control of City Hall. Elsewhere, Labour candidate Paul Dennett was elected as the new mayor for Salford, while Labour’s Joe Anderson won a second term in Liverpool.
England Council Elections 2016 (BBC news)
With 118 of 124 council results declared in England, Labour have 57 councils. The Conservatives have 34, with the Lib Dems taking 4. Although they control no councils, UKIP have 58 seats, while the Greens have 32. The number of councils with no overall control stands at 23. The Democratic Unionist Party lead the Northern Irish polls taking 32 of the 108 seats being contested with 80 declared. Sinn Fein follow with 19, followed by the Ulster Unionists with 10. Labour fell short of a majority in Wales, taking 29 of the 60 available seats in the Welsh Assembly vote. Plaid Cymru followed with 12, while the Conservatives won 11. UKIP secured 7, with the Lib Dems taking the other. With all the results declared in Scotland, the SNP fell two seats short of a majority but remains the largest party with 63 seats, ahead of the Conservatives on 31 and Labour on 24. In London, Labour took 12 seats on the London Assembly, with the Conservatives taking 8. The Green Party and UKIP each have two seats in the Assembly, while the Lib Dems have one.
Nicky Morgan accused of creating chaotic mess despite academies U-turn (Guardian)
The education secretary, Nicky Morgan, was accused by Labour of presiding over “a chaotic mess” when she appeared before MPs on Monday to explain her government’s U-turn over controversial plans to force schools to become academies. In a statement to the Commons, Morgan insisted the government’s goal had not changed and she still wanted every school to become an academy, but acknowledged concerns about a “hard deadline” for all schools to convert by 2022. Instead of “blanket” conversion, she told MPs there would be new powers to enable the Department for Education to step in and force schools in “underperforming” local authorities – or those unable to provide the necessary support – to convert to academy status. She said the threshold which would define “underperforming” would be the subject of an “affirmative resolution” which would be put before the Commons for consultation.
£1bn fund launched to build homes on council-owned land (Telegraph)
A consortium of housing developers and investors have a launched a £1bn fund to build homes on public land, and said they will work with the local authority to deliver the appropriate mix of houses to rent and buy, depending on local need.
Publications
Universal challenge: Making a success of Universal Credit (Resolution Foundation)
This report sets out a three point plan for the new Secretary of State, designed to both ensure that UC will provide the support needed for families moving into and progressing in work in the future and to make implementation as simple as possible. We argue that Stephen Crabb should restate and reclaim the role of UC in supporting more people into work and then boosting earnings, rather than being a source of savings for the Treasury to meet fiscal targets.
Sustainable local government finance and liveable local areas: Can we survive to 2020? (APSE & NPI)
Research by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) and the New Policy Institute identifies the picture of local government finance from now to 2020 and the impact this will have on frontline services. They report that council tax will account for three quarters of total income for shire counties by 2020. The report warns of inequalities as local authority funding becomes increasingly reliant on ability to grow business rate income.