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What would you like to ask the Minister for Employment?

Steve Bridger

| 0 Posts

Community Manager

23 May, 2025 13:50

We have an exciting episode of the HR People Pod in the pipeline, where we will be taking the opportunity to interview the Minister for Employment, Alison McGovern, and we want your help!

To help shape the discussion on the episode, we want to hear from you around some of the concerns, challenges as well as optimism you have towards the government’s Get Britain Working proposals as well as the recent Keep Britain Working review. 

Below is a reminder of some of the key proposals set out within the Get Britain Working White Paper:

  • Tackling long-term sickness – ambitions to reverse the increase in economic activity caused by ill health, with long-term sickness-related economic inactivity at a near-record high
  • Youth guarantee – a pledge to provide all 18-21 year olds in England with access to an apprenticeship, training, education or help finding a job
  • Jobcentre reforms – transforming the Jobcentre system into a new ‘national jobs and careers service’, which will focus on skills and careers rather than solely monitoring and managing benefits claims

Related links:

The Keep Britain Working review subsequently calls for urgent collaboration between government and businesses. The document suggested the inactivity crisis is “unlikely” to be resolved by the Government efforts alone, emphasising that employers have a “key role to play in creating inclusive workplaces that protect mental and physical health and support the retention and rehabilitation of employees, including disabled people and people with health conditions”.

Related links:

Thank you and look forward to seeing your thoughts, questions and comments below.

1372 views
  • Seeing as there's been a dearth of responses so far:

    Does the Minister recognise the assertion that UK businesses have been under-investing in management upskilling across the entire workforce for several decades and that the country's historically high long-term absence rate might be connected to a generation of managers who are paid to do a job for which they are essentially unqualified?
  • What is this government's plan re apprenticeships, given the news items today about changes coming? As organisations we plan ahead for this kind of commitment to our staff, so if there are changes it would be really helpful to understand the direction clearly as well as the timeline. Thank you!
  • Steve Bridger

    | 0 Posts

    Community Manager

    27 May, 2025 09:44

    In reply to Robey:

    Thanks, (I only posted on Friday afternoon, before the 3-day break).
  • The amendments to the Jobcentre system are very welcome. However how to the Government propose to train existing staff to understand the realities of the world of work and the skillsets and backgrounds of those seeking work so the advice given is actually useful and does not attempt to force square pegs into round holes?
  • Great question - thank you. I think I would like to ask

    1) What impact of the Get Britain Working White Paper would you like to see in 1, 3 and 5 years (e.g. what difference would you like it to have made) and how can we as People Professionals support the Government to achieve those impacts?

    2) Whilst there are large benefits to increased academic achievement, it could be argued that the focus on GCSE results over the past 20 years, has meant that more practical vocational skills are seen as less important either by schools, or parents, leading to significant skills gaps. Do you agree with this and do you feel that redressing the balance is important?

    3) Following on from that, the focus on academic achievement in schools means that many of the 'life skills' necessary to keep us happy and healthy (food and nutrition, cyber safety, critical thinking, understanding different viewpoints, financial wellbeing, resilience, collaboration, relationship building, exercise), have a lower priority in educational settings. Do you feel that having a higher focus in these areas, either in school settings and/or as part of apprenticeship training, could help reduce levels of economic inactivity due to sickness?
  • In reply to Teresa:

    Oooh, careful. Next someone will suggest that perhaps it's not a good idea that 50% of the population can benefit from a University education ;)
  • In reply to Matthew:

    Ha ha. Yes, I think I am showing both my age and background (left school and started full time work at age 16, and jumped straight to post graduate qualifications, both done whilst working full time) with my questions.

    I just remember a number of my year being moved onto City & Guilds qualifications rather than O levels and CSE's because they were more practical than academically minded. Many of those now own very successful engineering, vehicle maintenance, plumbing, carpentry or electrical companies. When my niece was at school the school just wasn't interested as she clearly wasn't academic and that's such a shame.
  • In reply to Teresa:

    My Mother took her A Levels at 17 and was told by Universities she would need to take a Gap Year if she was to progress to tertiary education. This was unheard of for girls in Irish families in the early '60s so she went to work in banking then having been fascinated by something called "the computer" went on to become one of the country's first computer programmers.

    When I was born in 1972 she had to give up work, returning to the workplace via a TOPS typing course to pay my school fees. She then discovered a great talent for finance while working as a book keeper/administrator at a small engineering company then moved into retirement housing, achieved an MBA (with no first degree) and retired as a Financial Controller!
  • Steve Bridger

    | 0 Posts

    Community Manager

    27 May, 2025 16:28

    In reply to Matthew:

    Big respect to your Mum,  

  • My question would be what is the strategy for building the broader economy for the changing world of work and how is the minister working across the relevant departments - education, health, business etc to ensure we approach this holistically rather than in short term political cycles.

    I'd echo the other points.

    Education needs to look at providing a broader access to work and life skills rather than focus on one track, costly university education.
  • In reply to Steve Bridger:

    She is a very impressive woman, and even as she approaches 80 is still a leading light in all sorts of organisations!
  • In reply to Matthew:

    Thank you so much for sharing that - your mum sounds awesome. It was hard enough in the 80's (I wanted to be an electrical engineer, but was told that was for boys), that I can't even imagine how hard it was for your Mum to do that in the 60's
  • In reply to Teresa:

    My mother in law was legally obliged to give up work when they adopted my husband and his brother, as a condition of the adoption (in the 1970s). Sometimes you have to look back at the shore to realise you've swum quite a long way, re the rights of women in the workplace!

  • Steve Bridger

    | 0 Posts

    Community Manager

    4 Jun, 2025 10:19

    Keep your comments coming :)
  • What are the chances of Britain introducing a wartime economy?This would mean restructuring the economy prioritise the war effort, shifting resources and industries towards military production, rationing supplies, and adjusting tax policies to fund the war effort. I ask this question as commentators suggest the UK is in an undeclared war with Russia.