Labour to raise public sector English language requirement

Gordon Brown will announce today that all public sector workers will be expected to speak English.

Labour is to propose a more comprehensive English language requirement for all new applicants for public sector job, writes the Times.

This is one of a series of initiatives aimed at convincing voters that the prime minister understands their concerns, particularly against a background of severe spending cuts in the public sector.

Others include moves to make it easier to sack under-performing police chiefs and to merge one-third of all secondary schools, bringing them under the control of “super-heads”.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Labour will also outline new plans for tackling youth unemployment, and will commit to increasing the minimum wage.

Labour campaign chief Lord Mandelson said: “This is the next logical step from what Tony Blair oversaw. If anything, it’s bolder and harder because we’re tailoring services to the individual and taking on parts of the public services that may have been failing.”