Jobs Market

Lord Hunt of Wirral Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd July 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Hunt of Wirral]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the jobs market, and of the implications for the wider economy.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Katz) (Lab)]

My Lords, this Government’s No. 1 mission is to grow our economy. We want a thriving, inclusive labour market with more people in good jobs, high living standards and productivity growth in every part of the country. The employment level has risen by 600,000 since the election, and we mean to go on as we have started, delivering our planned reforms to provide people with the work, health and skill support they need to succeed.

[Lord Hunt of Wirral (Con)]

My Lords, we all regret the current upward trend in unemployment. As the evidence shows, when economic growth returns, only a flexible labour market will deliver that much-needed jobs dividend. What assessment have the Government made of the likely impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the flexible labour market we all need?

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

My Lords, I have enjoyed debating with the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, over too many days to recall, the merits of the Government’s Employment Rights Bill. To be clear, the plan to make work pay is a once-in-a-generation transformation of our labour market to make it fairer and more inclusive, and to deliver the day one rights the country needs. It will introduce ground-breaking reforms such as bereavement leave for those who suffer miscarriages, ensure fair pay for the social care sector, and ban the use of NDAs in cases of sexual discrimination and worse. Let us be clear: we are also repealing the previous Government’s failed trade union legislation, which delivered for this economy record levels of days lost to strikes in 2022 and 2023—a record they cannot be proud of. We are fixing their mess by introducing the Employment Rights Bill.