Employment Rights Bill: Letter to UK Government

From: Maree Todd

To: Stephen Kinnock, Minister for State for Social Care

Dear Stephen,

I am writing to you following the UK Government’s introduction of the Employment Rights Bill to the House of Commons on 10 October 2024.

I warmly welcome the UK Government’s commitment to delivering a Plan to ‘Make Work Pay’ and the introduction of the Employment Rights Bill. My initial consideration of the Bill content suggests that it aligns well with the Scottish Government’s long-standing commitment to the principles of Fair Work, and more specifically, enhancing the experience of Scotland's social care workforce.

I look forward to engaging constructively and meaningfully around what are shared policy goals, I also want to emphasise my clear view on the need for the active participation of key partners including local government, union representatives, providers and other stakeholders in this process.

The Scottish Government, like the Scottish Trade Union Council’s (STUC), believes that employment law should be fully devolved to Scotland and are keen to support the delivery of progress around employment rights, including the provisions for establishing a negotiating body for adult social care. I recognise that this part of the bill specifically currently relates only to England and Wales, but I have asked officials here to consider how this might also operate in Scotland as part of our consideration of the bill provisions.

You may be aware that the Scottish Government, in partnership with Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) set up the Fair Work in Social Care Group (FWiSCG) to help drive the implementation of Fair Work initiatives within Adult Social Care, with a primary aim of developing a Sectoral Bargaining arrangement for the sector. We are making good progress in this area, and I would be happy to share details of our experience so far as part of your consideration for the introduction of a Negotiating Body.

Since its inception, the FWiSCG has brought together a dedicated group of senior stakeholders with substantial experience in social care. Their work has not only fostered a deep understanding of the sector’s complexities and challenges but has also cultivated significant expertise in the challenges of applying Fair Work principles within a complex landscape. It will be important for the work yet to be undertaken to set up a negotiating body not to duplicate or create inadvertent gaps or other issues with the activity that is well underway here in Scotland – understanding and contributing to the detail of how such a body might work for Scotland, as well as other parts of the UK, will be key to our considerations of seeking to extend the provisions in the bill to our jurisdiction.

Fundamentally, however, I consider that there is an excellent opportunity here for us all to share experience, work collaboratively, break down barriers and ensure Fair Work and Fair Pay leads to positive change for social care workers and organisations across Scotland and other parts of the UK.

As I have already stated, we are keen to engage constructively around the bill to ensure that we remain aligned with what I believe are broadly compatible policy goals, and that measures impacting social care in particular, for everyone who needs it, no matter where they live in the UK, can build on the extensive work already carried out here in Scotland.

Maree Todd