March 11, 2025

Employment Rights Bill to boost productivity for British workers and grow the economy

Government/Regulation

Employment Rights Bill to boost productivity for British workers and grow the economy

On 04 March the Government tabled amendments, and published five consultation responses related, to the Employment Rights Bill. The consultation responses have been published on GOV.UK and concern:

The application of zero-hour contracts measures to agency workers;

The amendments tabled help to strengthen the legislation, providing further detail and clarity on measures and ensuring measures can be implemented in a straightforward way. These amendments follow extensive consultation with businesses, trade unions and others, through which we have listened to expert views on how to make these reforms work across a range of sectors and workplaces.

Among the measures being tabled are amendments to the provisions on Adult Social Care. As a courtesy we wanted to notify you of these amendments which will be debated on as part of Report Stage in the Commons on 11 and 12 March. The amendment paper can be found online here.

We have set out a brief explanation of the purpose and effect of these amendments below for your information. The amendments do not change the overarching policy aims and principles of Fair Pay Agreements.

Some of the amendments are technical changes to the clauses of the Bill that relate to enforcement of ratified Fair Pay Agreements, whilst others ensure that the Devolved Governments in Scotland and Wales may also establish Negotiating Bodies and bring forward their own Fair Pay Agreement processes.

Gov 250 and 152: this amendment removes the powers at clause 42 to make standalone enforcement regulations because we no longer expect to make separate enforcement provision for Fair Pay Agreements. The enforcement of remuneration terms set out in a ratified Fair Pay Agreement will instead be within the remit of the Fair Work Agency.
Gov NC38 and 161: this amendment inserts a new clause to ensure that agency workers without a worker’s contract are able to bring an unlawful deduction from wages claim in an employment tribunal under Part 2 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, or in civil proceedings on a claim in contract, for a failure to pay the remuneration to which the agency worker would be entitled as a result of an agreement. This means that these workers who would otherwise not be able to bring an unlawful deduction of wages claim or a contract claim for a breach of Fair Pay Agreement terms will be able to do so.
Gov NC37 and related consequential amendments: these amendments insert a new clause and amend several others to extend the territorial extent of the ASCNB clauses to cover Scotland and Wales. Scottish and Welsh Ministers will be able to establish their own separate negotiating bodies through regulations. This will allow for the creation of individual negotiating bodies in each nation, recognising that social care is funded and delivered separately in each; for this reason and at the request of the Scottish and Welsh Government social care workers in children’s social care will also be in scope for Wales and Scotland (but not England).
Gov 151: this amendment ensures that regulations can restrict employers from contracting out of their record-keeping obligations and from preventing their worker’s rights to access those records, and bring Tribunal claims if that access is not granted. The effect of this amendment is that the Secretary of State will have the power to make regulations restricting employers from contracting out of their record keeping obligations.

If you have any questions about these amendments or would like to speak with the team about them, please do not hesitate to contact us.

DHSC Digital Tool – Get Adult Social Care Data

Calling care home providers – would you like to be one of the first 100 providers to gain access to Get Adult Social Care Data? This is a new digital tool which has been developed in collaboration with care sector experts. It will be launched in March 2025 on GOV.UK by DHSC, to give providers like you better access to the data that matters to you. This is an opportunity to:

See sector-wide data insights that can help with strategic decision-making
Be among the first to explore the digital tool and help shape its evolution to meet your data needs

What to expect

Right now, DHSC are focusing on sharing some basic insights about bed numbers and population need in your area, with more features to come in the next phase. The pilot is about seeing what’s useful, what’s missing, and how we can refine it together. Your feedback will help shape the future of this service.

If you’re interested, email getadultsocialcaredata.team@dhsc.gov.uk by 12th March with the message “Yes, I’d like to find out more.” They’ll get in touch with next steps and make sure it’s easy to get started.

Harnessing expertise to improve patient access to innovative health technologies

Introducing the Medicines and Medical Devices Access Initiative (MMD): a new collaboration that aims to improve patient access to safe, clinically and cost-effective healthcare products. Details here.

Boost in funding for care homes providing nursing

The government is set to increase funding for care homes providing nursing care in the community. Details here.

Consultation on the Housing Ombudsman’s Corporate Strategy 2025-30 and Business Plan 2025-26

The Housing Ombudsman is seeking views and feedback from residents, landlords, advocacy agencies, representative groups, MPs and councillors on its Business Plan 2025-26 and Corporate Strategy for the next 5 years. Consultation closes Mon 31 March 2025. Details here.