Member

New clause 86 would require the Secretary of State to assess the impacts of extending the provisions in clause 21, with Parliament having to approve them. This parliamentary lock is about protecting the chance that young people, ex-offenders and people from other vulnerable groups have to join the workforce, as otherwise firms might simply not take a chance on them. Part-time work will be particularly hit by the Bill. Those measures are on top of the Government’s £25 billion a year jobs tax, which is making 750,000 jobs in the hospitality sector subject to employer national insurance for the first time—a £1 billion cost for that sector. Those are the very type of flexible roles that are well suited, as was mentioned earlier, to people on long-term sickness benefits who might be looking to move back into the workplace, and the Bill undermines all of that.