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Published: 10-Mar-26 | By APSCo
Public Sector
Public Policy
Political Monitor | March 10th Edition
On 3rd March 2026, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered the UK's Spring Statement to the House of Commons. APSCo drafted a summary document to assist members in understanding the contents. While the statement suggested that inflation was easing, global events may challenge this outlook.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is one such factor, raising concerns about renewed economic pressure on the UK. Rising global oil and gas prices, particularly if shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted, could feed into transport, food, and manufacturing costs, potentially pushing inflation back up and delaying expected interest-rate cuts. More broadly, the conflict could increase global market volatility and disrupt trade routes, creating further uncertainty for the UK economy.
This broader context of uncertainty also coincides with notable political developments. Greens are likely to still be celebrating their first by-election win in Gorton and Denton, with new Green MP Hannah Spencer being introduced to Parliament on 2nd March. Labour came third behind Reform UK. The rise of the Greens under Zack Polanski is a symptom of a broader transformation in British politics and a move toward a time of multi-party politics. The era of stable, two-party dominance is giving way to a more fragmented landscape in which influence is diffused and pressure matters as much as power. Even if the Greens never approach national government, their ability to shape debate, unsettle Labour and influence policy through reputational pressure is likely to grow. Read a Cavendish briefing on the Greens here.
Immigration
Finally, there has been an update relevant to employers on immigration policy. The Government has updated its Register of licensed sponsors: workers. This document lists Worker and Temporary Worker sponsors which includes information about the category of workers they’re licensed to sponsor and their sponsorship rating.
APSCo News
Read our latest Staffing Stream article here: Flying under the radar: Game-changing review of regulatory frameworks | Staffing Industry Analysts.
This follows a member consultation meeting held on the consultation at the end of February. This gave us the intel needed to feed into the DBT trade policy meeting on 2nd March. Look out for further opportunities to feed into our submission on our events page.
Parliament, Employment Rights Act & Staffing Sector Regulation
Employment Rights Act & Sector Regulations
Lisa Pinney announced as CEO to the Fair Work Agency - GOV.UK
Lisa Pinney will be starting her role from April this year. She left her role as Chief Executive of the Mining Remediation Authority to lead the creation of a single, streamlined employment rights enforcement body as CEO of the Fair Work Agency. Matthew Taylor is the Chair of the FWA.
Healthcare, Education, Construction and Hospitality Members
Modernising the Recruitment Regulations (Agency Worker Framework) and Fair Work Agency Make Work Pay - GOV.UK
DBT is organising sector-specific online roundtables and is looking for our members to join:
- Health and social care - Thursday 12th March at 10:00-11:00
- Hospitality - Monday 16th March at 11:00-12:00
- Teaching - Thursday 19th March at 10:00-11:00
- Construction - Friday 20th March at 10:00-11:00
Please contact shazia.imtiaz@apsco.org to be put in touch with DBT to register.
In the News: Keep up to date with our new In the News, where we provide links to our latest media coverage.
Parliament and Consultations
Save this link to access the up-to-date list of open consultations on the Make Work Pay reforms. The consultation on reforming the Conduct Regulations and bringing umbrellas into scope of the Regulations is now open. We are told that the long-awaited consultation on zero-hours contracts/guaranteed hours is written and going through various approvals before being issued.
6th April Changes
- ERA and Umbrella changes are going live on 6th April – make sure you are ready – review our legal pages, and remember the legalhelpdesk@apsco.org is available for specific queries.
- The CIPD has issued a report warning that employers may defer hiring decisions because of concerns over the ERA. CIPD research warns on Employment Rights Act impact | The Global Recruiter.
- Threshold for triggering collective redundancy obligations – GOV.UK The Government has launched a consultation on the new organisation-wide threshold for triggering collective redundancy obligation under the Employment Rights Act 2025, seeking views on how this should be implemented.
- Growing up in the online world: a national consultation - GOV.UK This is the much-publicised consultation on restricting social media and addictive design features.
- Low Pay Commission consultation 2025 - GOV.UK - consultation open on new NMW. This may be of interest to recruiters and workforce solutions providers with large payrolls.
Other Announcements & Publications
Skills
- To coincide with National Careers Week, the Careers and Enterprise Company, the government school careers body, has published its annual report for 2024/2025. There has been a threefold increase in schools’ achievement against the Gatsby Benchmarks since 2016 and more employers are involved with education, with employers offering work experience reporting business benefits.
- The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is launching a review to assess how best the immigration system could be used to attract top talent to the UK.
Economic Growth
- The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) responded to Spring Statement presented by The Chancellor on 3 March 2026. Welcoming the 2026 Spring Forecast for prioritising economic stability and lowering the cost of living amidst global uncertainty, the CBI emphasised the need to lower business costs amid struggles with energy costs and NICs and NLW increases announced in 2025 Autumn Budget.
- On their end, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) welcomed the UK’s finance outlook which look broadly stable. However, it noted that the Government has very little fiscal headroom, meaning small economic shocks could create problems. The IFS emphasised that future public spending growth is planned to be very tight, and risks from inflation, interest rates, and global uncertainties make the outlook highly uncertain.
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