United Kingdom Jobs Market

Baroness Stedman-Scott Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for his question. I am afraid I will repeat myself: a great deal of it will be delivered through the industrial strategy White Paper. We are looking at the sectors that will lead to the future economic growth of this country—advanced manufacturing, clean energy, the creative industries, digital and technologies, defence, financial services, life sciences, and professional business services. As we heard from the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, on the previous Question, financial services will be a key part of our economic growth. These are the areas in which the jobs will come. It is our role as a Government to make sure everybody can access quality jobs in these economic sectors and that is what we will do.

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

My Lords, the ONS data shows that job losses accelerated immediately after the Government’s national insurance increase took effect in April, with 109,000 payrolled employees lost in May. That is the biggest monthly drop since the pandemic. I spent my whole working life trying to help people who had lost their jobs get back into work. The impact on individuals is truly devastating, and we should not forget that. How will the Government help those who have lost their jobs—who are competing in a rapidly shrinking jobs market with fewer vacancies—manage their period of inactivity so that their mental health does not deteriorate to the point that they remain out of the labour market permanently and never achieve their destiny?

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. She is right to identify the huge personal impact of long periods of economic inactivity and joblessness, as well as the obvious deleterious economic impact. The Government’s Get Britain Working White Paper sets out a bold and comprehensive vision to tackle that inactivity and build an inclusive labour market. As well as wanting to raise the UK’s employment rate to over 80%, it aims to modernise employment support. We have set out a number of trailblazers—including the first pathfinder, launched just last week in Wakefield—as part of a commitment to create a new jobs and careers service, which will shift the focus of the jobcentre system from box-ticking to job finding. It is a sad fact that only 9% of employers currently recruit through jobcentres. That is too few; they should become recruiters of choice. Our plan in the Get Britain Working White Paper is designed to make that happen.