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Published: 30-Jun-26 | By APSCo
Public Sector
Political Monitor | June 30th Edition
News Round Up
Following the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer on 22nd June, after PM frontrunner Andy Burnham won the Makerfield by-election, Burnham looks on track to be coronated as leader in early July. On the 29th of June he gave a speech outlining his policy intentions. He pledged a “No. 10 North” in Manchester. Burnham promised regional leaders more control over infrastructure, housing, utilities, reindustrialisation and the welfare state while a “more streamlined” Whitehall focuses on growth and regeneration. Speculation remains rife as to his choice of ministers – in particular Chancellor.
The PM, Starmer, today announced the long-delayed and much criticised UK Defence Investment Plan, promising a “drone transformation”.
Lastly, of interest to anybody living in Western Europe last week was the heat – with impacts including overheated hospital equipment and deaths from heat exhaustion. The annual London Climate Action Week was therefore particularly timely with more information below.
APSCo News
Meeting London 14th July 9.30-12pm: Register for our consultation meeting on the Zero Hours ERA reforms here.
We held our first Global policy group meeting last week. It is clear that there are common challenges across the APSCo regions, critically the difficulty of articulating both the value of our sector and the connection between flexible work and economic growth. This group is intended to inform our policy work globally and to enable us to collate stronger data and case studies from our global membership.
We also hosted a parliamentary dinner with Sonia Kumar MP, PPS to Darren Jones MP. Roundtable discussion focused on the challenges of the Employment Rights Act and skills.
Parliament, Employment Rights Act & Sector Regulation
Employment Rights Act and Sector Regulations
Make Work Pay Consultation: Holiday Pay Compliance and Enforcement. This consultation is to be announced today, 30th June, 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.
The consultation will be open for the standard 12-week consultation period and APSCo UK and OutSource will be consulting with members and making a submission.
Parliament and Consultations
Government consultation responses: We expect a series of government consultation responses to be published in the run up to the parliamentary recess on the 16th July. These documents set out final policy decisions and plans for implementation.
Responses already published in the last few weeks include:
Government response to the consultation on the draft code of practice on electronic and workplace balloting for statutory union ballots. It is expected that electronic balloting for industrial action ballots, political fund / resolution ballots, union elections, and union merger ballots will come into force this summer once parliamentary approval has been received. The government intends to allow for the use of electronic and hybrid voting during recognition and derecognition ballots in 2027.
Government response to the consultation on protection from detriments for taking industrial action. The The government will introduce regulations that prohibit all detriments imposed for the sole or main purpose of penalising, preventing or deterring a worker from taking industrial action, rather than a specified list of detriments. This measure is expected to come into force in October 2026.
Other Announcements & Publications
Economic and Growth Policy
HMRC’s tax gap estimate The difference between what UK tax is expected to be paid and was actually paid – was 6.4% for the 2024 to 2025 tax year, provisional figures published on 23rd June highlighted.
UK Labour Market June 2026 - Office for National Statistics The official statistics continued to show a flat hiring market with a reduction in vacancies. However, members continue to report a tentatively optimistic picture, particularly in contracting sectors.
The Government has announced a new Public Interest Test to ensure public sector departments and officials look beyond short-term pricing to focus on long-term service quality and public value for contracts over £1 million. Read more: Ambition to end era of ‘outsourcing by default’ as government looks to bring cleaners and security staff in-house - GOV.UK
Skills: The UK Green Clean Economy has grown 15% in the last two years
The UK’s clean economy has grown 15% in the past two years bucking the stagnation seen in other sectors. As the world’s second largest cleantech ecosystem, (climate tech) London is an innovation cluster for the UK and Europe combining world-class technology companies, universities and venture investors . Ed Miliband announced the Government has secured £100 billion of clean energy investment since 2024 at the London Climate Action Week.
Skills England report that 33% of young learners started courses including degrees and apprenticeships on a pathway to a priority occupation in the 2023-2024 cohort. Priority sectors are those in the Industrial Strategy including construction, digital, health and social care. 1.8 million more workers are needed in these sectors by 2035.
Alongside this, the government has asked Skills England to review apprenticeship funding bands, to prioritise those supporting priority sectors.
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