Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the of the implications for her policies of the report entitled, Networked but Commodified: The (Dis)Embeddedness of Digital Labour in the Gig Economy, published in the journal Sociology in February 2019.

DFID is actively supporting global efforts to maximise the opportunities and minimise the risks from the gig economy. Through the Responsible, Accountable and Transparent Enterprise Programme (RATE), DFID supports the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and its response to the changing nature of work and the rise of digital platforms. We also support social protection programmes – central to the protection of workers in the gig economy – in 23 countries.

DFID is working closely with DWP to influence a proposed International Labour Organisation (ILO) Centenary Declaration. The Declaration will set the strategic direction for the ILO in the context of the future of work. We are pushing to ensure that the ILO addresses job quality issues in the changing world of work.