Socio-economic duty implementation

Committee recommendation

69match

#8 - Commission EHRC to review effectiveness of age discrimination protections in Equality Act.

Women and Equalities Committee

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

66match

#16 - Eighth Report: Economic impact of coronavirus: the challenges of recovery

Treasury Committee

In order to prevent “levelling up” becoming an empty slogan, the Government should produce a strategy underpinning it that defines clear objectives and includes the indicators it will use to gauge success at the next fiscal event. The Government needs to clarify whether it is planning to close the productivity gap, the income gap, the gap in health...

Matched on terms: economic

Committee recommendation

65match

#7 - Age discrimination law is ineffective, poorly enforced, and fails to protect older people.

Women and Equalities Committee

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

61match

#9 - 1st Report – Health Bill 2026–27

Health and Social Care Committee

We recommend that the Secretary of State’s duties in relation to health inequalities in clause 4 of the bill be strengthened and that all ministers should be under a duty to consider how policies they enact might contribute to or reduce health inequalities. (Recommendation, Paragraph 33) 23

Matched on terms: duty

Committee recommendation

61match

#10 - Examine government and UKRI efforts to enhance diversity and inclusion in STEM.

Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

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.

Business and Trade Committee

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

57match

#9 - Task Acas with leading an information campaign to promote good employment practice compliance.

Business and Trade Committee

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

#2 - 1st Report – Employment support for disabled people: Connect to Work

Work and Pensions Committee

We welcome Connect to Work’s solid foundations in internationally recognised supported employment models grounded in person-centred, values-based approaches, that are widely regarded as an effective framework for supporting disabled people into sustainable employment. The programme’s scale, national coordination, and delivery at a local level puts it in a good position to provide more targeted support to those most...

Matched on terms: implementation

Committee recommendation

53match

#10 - Develop a clear, long-term industrial relations strategy, credibly resourced and embedded through collaboration.

Business and Trade Committee

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

#4 - 2nd Report – Affordability of Home Ownership

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee

Support from family, often called the bank of mum and dad, is a major part of the current housing market for first-time buyers. This entrenches inequality in the sector, with home ownership resembling an inherited characteristic: a young person’s chance of homeownership depends more 53 on parental home ownership than on personal earnings. More should be done to...

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

49match

#12 - Amend Trade Union Act sections to improve recognition ballot complaint and limitation periods.

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Treasury Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Scottish Affairs Committee

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

#2 - 5th Report - Legislative Scrutiny: Crime and Policing Bill

Human Rights (Joint Committee)

The broad definition of anti-social behaviour encompasses a wide range of unacceptable behaviour. While it may be well-established and understood by some authorities, its breadth and subjectivity allows for inconsistency in its application and risks sweeping up less serious matters along with behaviour that demands a legal response. This can disproportionately affect vulnerable groups and result in measures...

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

45match

#3 - Third Report - Impact of COVID-19 on DCMS sectors: First Report

Culture, Media and Sport Committee

The cessation of community sport countrywide during lockdown has hit under- represented groups the hardest. While we welcome the announcement that some recreational sports teams can now resume play, we are concerned about gyms and leisure centres. These facilities act as community hubs, often providing subsidised facilities to those who most need them, but have been the last...

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

45match

#30 - Amend Employment Rights Bill Clause 26 to define reproductive health support as advancing gender equality.

Women and Equalities Committee

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

Matched on classifier match

Committee recommendation

45match

#13 - Require transparency for recognition ballot spending and secure a long-term WERS replacement.

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Education Committee

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.

Transport Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Scottish Affairs Committee

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.

Scottish Affairs Committee

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

Business and Trade Committee

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

Business and Trade Committee

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

Business and Trade Committee

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

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Business and Trade Committee

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.

Public Accounts Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Work and Pensions Committee

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.

Scottish Affairs Committee

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