Policy News Journal - 2016-17

The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals ……………………………………………………………Policy News Journal

The UK Parliament has also legislated to enable the National Assembly for Wales to introduce Welsh rates of Income Tax. If this was to happen, Income Tax rates could then be different to others parts of the UK.

New legislation will also be introduced to repeal sections of the UK Government’s Trade Union Act 2016 in devolved areas.

When the First Minister, Carwyn Jones announced news of the Bills, he said:

“Over the next twelve months, we will introduce legislation that will deliver real improvements for the people of Wales.

Following the summer recess, we will introduce historic legislation to create the first made-in-Wales taxes in more than 800 years – a significant step for us as a government and for Wales as a nation.

We will also act to remove the UK Government’s fundamentally harmful reforms to the rights of workers in the public services this Welsh Government is responsible for, and introduce new laws to protect our social housing stock, improve public health, and reform the system for children and young people with additional learning needs.”

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Statutory code of practice on English language requirement 29 July 2016

Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 places a duty on all public authorities in scope to ensure that their customer- facing staff can speak fluent English, or in Wales fluent English or Welsh. A draft statutory code of practice to support employers in complying with this new duty has been published. The code will be laid before Parliament and issued in October but the early publication of the document is intended to support organisations to be ready to adhere to the statutory duty once it comes into force. It provides principles and examples for public authorities to consider when fulfilling their legal duties and obligations.

The new duty will assure citizens that there is not a language barrier that might prevent them from contacting or using public services or inadvertently put them at risk.

The government has worked with relevant employers throughout the development of the draft Code of Practice and will continue to do so to ensure that the duty is implemented in a way which ensures a positive impact for employees and service users in front line organisations.

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Employers struggling to effectively manage an ageing workforce? 18 August 2016

Research from Group Risk Development (GRiD) shows that 53% of employers have taken no steps to meet the needs of an ageing workforce.

The research was conducted by Lightspeed Research for GRiD and took place in September 2015 among 501 UK businesses with between 5 and 1,000 employees.

Only 7% have refocused their health, wellbeing and absence-management procedures to manage those with age-related conditions, and only 2% continue to provide Group Risk benefits for those aged over 65.

According to the UK Labour Market Bulletin (June 2016) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), we have never had greater employment, and 50-64 year-olds now make up 27% of the total workforce. This is to be celebrated with people living and working longer but an ageing workforce can bring its own challenges. Coupled with the removal of the default retirement age, employers have had to consider how best to look after their workforce as a whole and for longer, and the research indicates that some are struggling with how to accommodate the different needs they may have.

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