Official Report 838KB pdf
The next item is to take oral evidence on a further supplementary legislative consent memorandum on the Employment Rights Bill. The bill’s purpose is to deliver the key legislative reforms that are set out in the United Kingdom Government’s plan to make work pay.
The bill’s explanatory note states that its purpose is to
“update and enhance existing employment rights and make provision for new rights; make provision regarding pay and conditions in particular sectors; ... make reforms in relation to trade union matters and industrial action”,
and to create
“a new regime for the enforcement of employment law.”
The committee previously took evidence on an earlier supplementary LCM on the Employment Rights Bill in May this year, and it published a report on that previous supplementary LCM on 10 June. The further supplementary LCM—LCM-S6-53b, which is currently under consideration—was lodged in the Scottish Parliament on 14 August. It recommends legislative consent with respect to amendments to clauses 44 to 46 and 49 of the bill, which were tabled on 7 July.
I welcome Tom Arthur, Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing, along with Anne Cairns, solicitor; Danny Duffy, who deals with fair work and social care; David Holmes, who deals with fair work and the economy; and Rachael Thomas, who deals with fair work and social care, all from the Scottish Government. I invite the minister to make an opening statement.
Thank you, convener. Good morning to you and to the rest of the committee. This supplementary LCM should be read in conjunction with the Scottish Government’s previous memoranda on the Employment Rights Bill, dated 11 December 2024 and 3 April 2025.
The Scottish Government has been working closely with care providers, trade unions, local government and regulators for a number of years to deliver fair work in the social care sector, but, as you are aware, the Scottish Government’s ability to act in this area is constrained by the devolution settlement. Nevertheless, we have continued to deliver what we can by using the powers that are available to us, including enabling payment of a real living wage to all social care workers, delivering direct care and commissioned services, developing an effective voice framework for the sector, which is nearing the conclusion of a pilot phase, and working with the sector to identify priority areas for enhanced terms and conditions in due course. However, the Employment Rights Bill and subsequent amendments now confer some limited powers on the Scottish ministers, and it is for those reasons that a supplementary LCM is required for those provisions.
It is important to note that a lot of work has also been carried out to develop and design a process for delivering a voluntary sectoral bargaining model for Scotland. When the Employment Rights Bill was introduced, it included provisions relating to the social care sector in England, most notably for the establishment through regulations of a negotiating body to consider pay and terms and conditions for the adult social care sector.
The outcome of those negotiations, once accepted by the secretary of state, was to be enacted through regulations to deliver fair pay agreements for workers who were in scope. The Scottish Government recognised the opportunity to potentially underpin much of the work already undertaken in Scotland on sectoral bargaining by seeking to extend the scope of the bill to Scotland. That will provide the Scottish Government with the option to regulate for negotiated fair pay agreements for the sector as an alternative to the aforementioned voluntary process.
We have also succeeded in securing broader applications of those bill provisions to children’s services, not just services for adults, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with the UK Government to build on our fair work principles and help to maximise the bill’s positive impact across Scotland.
The amendments to which the LCM pertains clarify that negotiating bodies can set only minimum terms and conditions of employment for social care workers and cannot adversely affect those workers’ existing terms and conditions or prevent employers from offering better terms and conditions than those agreed by the negotiating body. They also establish the parliamentary procedure for approving codes and guidance. Together, these measures protect social care workers from being forced on to worse contracts, safeguard fair pay and conditions, and help to maintain a competitive and sustainable workforce across the sector.
Thank you, minister, for that comprehensive statement. I have had no indication from members that they have any questions. I think that the committee has already scrutinised several LCMs on the bill.
08:50 Meeting continued in private. 09:03 Meeting continued in public.