Member

Let us start with the claim about a two-tier workforce. The Minister will be aware that we already have all sorts of tiering in our workforce. Perhaps the biggest divide is between public sector and private sector workers, where those in the public sector get pretty generous defined benefit pensions, which became unaffordable for the majority of the private sector over the last 30 years. Even where the private sector does provide pensions, there is a lot of variation in whether employers provide the minimum required under automatic enrolment or more generous contributions to defined contribution schemes. There are also other divides: people who work for large corporations typically get maternity and paternity rights and sick pay in excess of the statutory minimum, or they may get access to benefits such as private healthcare which smaller companies simply cannot afford. We should be in no doubt that tiering is alive and well throughout our labour market.