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Published: 28-Jul-26 | By APSCo
Public Sector
Public Policy
Political Monitor | July 28th Edition
News Round Up
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced his full list of Ministerial appointments, with the surprise appointment of ex Defence Minister John Healey as Chancellor. His first policy announcements were very much aimed at the cost of living with a reduction of VAT on energy bills and concessions on business rates for pubs and small music venues.
No 10 North is up and running. In a meeting with business representatives, including the CBI he reasserted the government's intention to deliver workers' rights in partnership, supporting "higher living standards, stronger business and good growth in every postcode". He asked businesses to support young people into work, and the PM pledged to help businesses to develop the skilled workforce they need.
With that in mind, the PM has announced his intention to extend the Manchester MBacc pilot across the country in 2028. This entails introducing technical education, relevant to the local area, into the curriculum at 14 years old alongside GCSEs, the hope being more young people then transition into local skilled technical roles on leaving school.
Parliament, Employment Rights Act & Sector Regulation
Employment Rights Act and Sector Regulations
Mandatory Right to Work Checks for workers, contractors, subcontractors, and those “matched” online.
Go-live date: 1st October 2026.
Ahead of the changes coming into force, the government has updated its code of practice on preventing illegal working and an employer’s guide to right-to-work checks. These are both currently in draft.
This is a significant change for the contracting sector, as recruiters, MSPs, and clients will face fines and enforcement action for non-compliance.
Parliament and Consultations
Make Work Pay Consultation: Holiday Pay Compliance and Enforcement. This consultation is now live until 22nd September 2026. It is seeking views on the proposed approach to enforcement of statutory holiday pay, including how the Fair Work Agency will uphold compliance and support workers and businesses. We will be consulting and making a submission.
There is a further Make Work Pay consultation on workplace monitoring technologies open until 30th September 2026.
Equal Pay Consultation: Open until 28th October
The Government is seeking views on mandating pay transparency and ethnicity pay transparency reporting. It will also regulate through the establishment of an Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit, in addition to Employment Tribunals.
Guaranteed Hours consultation online meeting with Policy Officials from the newly named Department for Business, Innovation, Science, and Trade (previously DBT).
11th August, 11-12.30pm Register here.
DBIST is running a programme of engagement with stakeholders to complement the consultation to better understand how the measures would work in practice. This will support insight from formal consultation responses. They very much encourage members to submit a response to the consultation in addition to attending the session.
Other Announcements & Publications
Parliament and Consultations
PM Burnham for the first time has appointed a Minister of AI to Cabinet, Kanishka Narayan MP, who sits jointly across Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST). They have also appointed Lord Vallance as the chair of the new AI Taskforce. This taskforce will look at how AI can be scaled to transform public services and boost growth in a responsible way.
The Minister has told the FT that tech will be at the forefront of plans to reindustrialise, using chip building as an example where domestic capacity must be built.
With its current focus on NEETs, the government has published its response to the House of Lords report on social mobility.
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