Hampshire Chamber calls for skills 'quid pro quo' in employment rights shake-up

The county’s independent ‘voice of business’, which has members in all industries, says the new Employment Rights Bill is a welcome move to strengthen workers’ security but care must be taken in its implementation.

The bill is set to introduce 28 individual reforms including changes to zero hours contracts, fire and re-hire practices, statutory sick pay and day one rights for parental and bereavement leave.

Employers’ protection from unfair dismissal claims will be removed and consultation will be led over a new ‘probation period’.

Flexible working practices will be encouraged as the default position where appropriate, there will be more scrutiny on large employers in respect of pay gaps due to gender, and there will be a requirement to have a menopause support plan in place.

Ross McNally, Hampshire Chamber Chief Executive and Executive Chairman, pictured, said: “The bill must achieve a fair balance between support for employees in their working lives and scope for businesses to continue to recruit and retain staff and grow.

“Although most of the measures won’t be in place immediately, we recommend our members and other employers act now to review their existing contracts and staff policies.

“They will have to train relevant managers on the legislative changes to be enacted and let wider staff know what to expect.

“It will certainly be more important than ever to have clear family-friendly processes in place and specifically on issues such as what may be considered fair reasons for dismissal.

“But there is a quid pro quo here. While enhanced workers’ rights are a good thing, employers preparing for the changes still need to plug the enduring skills gaps that have long plagued the UK economy.

“We call on the government to support employers here in Hampshire, whether they are in private business, the third sector or the public sector, by partnering with organisations such as ours on skills development strategy.”

Ross said moves to establish a new national skills agency, Skills England, must dovetail with work already under way through Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs).

Hampshire Chamber leads the Solent LSIP and supports the separate EM3 LSIP led by Surrey Chamber of Commerce.

Ross said: “Ministers need to be careful with any ‘top down’ skills approach that risks overriding local needs. They must align policy and build on LSIPs’ regional progress to date.

“Local employers and training providers are best placed to plan skills provision in their own regions and that requires a stable, coherent national skills strategy that complements, not replaces, the work that business-led LSIPs are doing.

“The Department for Education has told us it recognises that the Solent LSIP and those for the Enterprise M3 area and other regions across the country are long-term, potentially ten-year plans.

“In setting up its national agency, the government must understand the critical cross-over between the demand for skills from employers in business and the third sector and how skills provision is supplied locally and regionally through education providers.”

Under the Solent LSIP, ministers last year approved 14 recommendations covering the next three to five years.

A key aim is to foster a ‘shift in thinking’ among employers and encourage them to make skills development an integral part of wider business planning.

The plan was prepared in partnership with firms, education providers, policymakers, charities and the public sector.

It followed detailed research into persistent skills gaps in the local labour market and how post-16 technical education and training could be made more responsive to employers’ needs.

The latest Solent LSIP progress report highlights the ‘early win’ of a skills brokerage service that has already supported more than 100 employers, with a target of 150 by spring next year.

There is a strong focus under the plan of working with ‘hard-to-reach’ groups and engaging with sector bodies and so-far unengaged employers to promote opportunities and diversity.

Ross added: “The LSIP covers sectors where the Solent has recognised strengths, such as marine, maritime and engineering, and others struggling with acute recruitment and skills pressures including hospitality, health and social care and logistics.

“As well as business and industry, the aim is to put skills development at the very heart of our support for charities and the third sector.

“They provide so many of the services that are essential to keeping a healthy society going, everything from foodbanks to social care, and disability services to environmental protection.

“Hampshire Chamber’s Meet the Charity steering group, which is fully behind the LSIP, is all about championing those crucial links between business and the third sector.

“Skills provision is right there in the centre of the mix, enabling charities and third sector organisations to unlock volunteering opportunities, access funding, share resources and knowledge and achieve efficiencies in what they do.

“If you have skills shortages in any workplace, they damage the ability to operate and be productive.

“It’s exactly the same whether you are a commercial firm, a charity or a public sector organisation.”

Since the Meet the Charity steering group held a ‘skills exchange’ exhibition and conference in Winchester last year, regular meetings involving business and charity employers have taken place.

The Chamber is also working with the University of Portsmouth to stage a Future of Work Skills event in early 2025.

It will bring together employers, industry organisations, education providers and other strategic partners to help identify ongoing skills needs and shape provision in response.

Ross added: “We will continue to lobby the government to make Hampshire’s voice heard during the consultation process and passage of the Employment Rights bill.

“At the same time, we stand ready to work with ministers to champion a co-ordinated approach to essential skills provision in our region that benefits our member businesses, charity and third-sector organisations and public sector employers.”