The Liberal Democrats have unveiled their 2024 election manifesto which outlines plans to reform sick pay, replace the apprenticeship levy and establish a new employment status. They would also set a 20% premium on the national minimum wage for people on zero-hours contracts to compensate for the uncertainty of fluctuating work. Ashleigh Webber reports
The first of the main political parties to unveil their 2024 general election manifesto, the Lib Dems have outlined their plans for job creation, skills development, health and care services, immigration and employment law reforms should they win power next month.
The party said it aims to create good jobs in every region of the UK by launching an industrial strategy, and promises to tackle the productivity crisis by encouraging organisations to invest in training and technology.
On skills, the Lib Dems said they would replace the apprenticeship levy with a broader and more flexible skills and training levy, and create lifelong skills grants for adults to spend on training and education.
Lib Dems election manifesto
Careers advice links between employers, schools and colleges would be strengthened, while technical skills would be improved by the expansion of higher vocational training such as foundation degrees, higher national diplomas and higher apprenticeships.
The party aims to increase the uptake of apprenticeships by scrapping the lower apprentice hourly rate of pay and ensuring apprentices are paid at least the national minimum wage.
Proposed employment law changes include establishing a new “dependent contractor” employment status between employment and self-employment, with rights including minimum earnings levels, sick pay and holiday entitlement. It also wants to shift the burden of proof in employment tribunals concerning employment status from individual to employer.
Zero-hours minimum wage 20% higher
A Lib Dem government would establish a right to request a fixed-hours contract after 12 months for zero-hours and agency workers, and a 20% higher minimum wage for people on zero-hours contracts at times of “normal” demand to compensate for the uncertainty of fluctuating work.
Parental leave and pay would be made a day-one right, while sick pay would be aligned with the national minimum wage, be available from the first day of sickness absence and the lower earnings limit would be removed.
On immigration, the Lib Dem manifesto pledged to replace the immigration salary threshold with a more flexible merit-based system for work visas and scrap the immigration skills charge for NHS and care staff, as well as the ban on care workers bringing partners and children to the UK.
Visa fees for the Youth Mobility Scheme would be abolished, and the age limit for entry under this scheme would be increased from 30 to 35. The visa length would be extended from two years to three.
Sector-specific strategies
Government departments would work with employers in each sector to address specific needs as part of a long-term workforce strategy. In particular, a Lib Dem government would create a teacher workforce strategy that would ensure every secondary school child is taught by a specialist teacher in their subject and would ensure that all teacher training posts in schools are paid.
It has also pledged to increase the number of full-time equivalent GPs by 8,000 by boosting recruitment and retaining more experienced GPs and will introduce a new higher minimum wage for care workers.
Other measures pledged in the manifesto include:
- giving staff in listed companies with more than 250 employees a right to request shares
- extending the use of name-blind recruitment processes
- reviewing rules concerning pensions so that those in the gig economy do not lose out
- reviewing the tax and national insurance status of employees, dependent contractors and freelancers
- establishing an independent review to recommend a genuine living wage across all sectors
- reviewing the off-payroll working IR35 reforms
- requiring all large companies to have a formal statement of corporate purpose.
In his speech launching the manifesto, Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “We are putting forward a bold, ambitious and fully-costed plan to tackle the health and care crisis from top to bottom. This is a manifesto to save the NHS.
“Giving everyone the right to see a GP within seven days, or within 24 hours if it’s urgent. And recruiting the extra doctors needed to make it happen.
We are putting forward a bold, ambitious and fully-costed plan to tackle the health and care crisis from top to bottom. This is a manifesto to save the NHS.” – Ed Davey, Lib Dem leader
“We will value care workers properly and help to fill the more than 150,000 vacancies in social care, by introducing a new, higher minimum wage especially for care workers, and setting up a new Royal College of Care Workers.”
Devil in the detail
Tania Bowers, global public policy director at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), said the plan to invest in the NHS and social care was promising, but “doesn’t solve the core crux of the issue; namely the lack of skilled workers in the country”.
“The Liberal Democrats have committed to recruit more GPs, but the devil is in the detail and from what we’ve heard so far, it’s not entirely clear where these individuals will come from,” she said.
“Addressing the immediate challenges will require more than a financial investment or an uptick in training, the results of which will take time to see. As APSCo highlighted in its own manifesto earlier this year, there are ways to create a more sustainable workforce in the national healthcare service, including cultivating a better partnership between NHS employers, recruitment companies and framework organisations to deliver the NHS long-term workforce plan.
“Crucially, this partnership must recognise that contract and temporary workers play a core role in managing peaks and troughs in demand and in delivering projects and change implementation.”
Commenting on the pledge to review the IR25 reforms, Dave Chaplin, CEO and founder of off-payroll compliance firm IR35 Shield, said: “The Liberal Democrats and in particular their leader, Sir Ed Davey, has always understood the importance of the flexible workforce and supported freelancers. The commitment to a review of the off-payroll working reforms is certainly welcome, as is the focus on ensuring the self-employed are being treated fairly. ”
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