Baroness Sherlock (Lab)

My Lords, I am very fond of our traditions in the House of Lords, but we now have a new one: on a monthly basis, we relitigate the Employment Rights Bill in the form of an Oral Question. One reason why I do not like having this Question every month is that we end up having the kind of ding-dong that is more typical of the Commons, so let me try to answer in a more serious way without getting into scrapping about it. This Government had to take some difficult decisions to strengthen the country’s finances. However, we believe the Employment Rights Bill was the right choice. We have looked at the evidence and it is backed by academic and business voices as a driver of productivity. I encourage the noble Lord to look carefully at the employment data, where he will see a positive trajectory. Employment is up, inactivity is down, wages are growing and vacancy levels remain healthy. These are clear signs of resilience in the labour market. However, there are clear global headwinds and, where there is slack, one of the most important things for our Government to do is to address supply-side measures, because if times get tough then the people who risk losing out are young people and those farther from the labour market. We have a strategy to support people, tackle the barriers into work and make that work. That is what we are trying to do. We are pushing forward and it is getting results.