‘Free to exploit at will’

When Theresa May gave a speech after it was announced she would become the UK’s next prime minister, she pledged that the Tory party will put itself  “completely, absolutely, unequivocally” at the “service of ordinary working people.”

“It is why we will make Britain a country that works for everyone,” she said.

But May’s tenure so far has shown that supporting ordinary working people is far from being on her government’s agenda.

A government agency that exists to protect workers from being exploited by their bosses has suffered a massive 50 per cent cut in funding over the last five years, a new analysis from the Labour party has shown.

The employment agency standards inspectorate (EAS) which according to its website “works with agencies, employers and workers to make sure that employment rights are complied with, particularly for vulnerable workers”, went from having a more than £1m budget in 2010 to having only £500,000 now.

During that time, the Inspectorate’s workforce has been decimated by 70 per cent from 30 staff to only 9. While complaints made to the Inspectorate went up by more than 20 per cent in the last five years, the number of targeted inspections has plunged by 52 per cent and the issuing of warning letters has likewise dropped by 54 per cent over the same time period.

Shockingly, over the last year the agency has not carried out one single prosecution against a rogue employer.

And as OpenDemocracy points out, cuts to funding in other labour enforcement agencies, such as the gangmasters licencing authority (GLA), has damaged an enforcement network that is already much weaker than its European counterparts.

Indeed, the UK just has only 0.9 labour inspectors per 100,000 members of the workforce while Ireland has 4.6, Netherlands has 5.1, Belgium has 12.5 and France has nearly 20.

Various stories in only the last few months have shown the need for a strong labour inspectorate, especially to support precarious workers that the EAS seeks to protect, from Sports Direct agency warehouse workers to Deliveroo drivers whose plight was only revealed thanks to the help of unions and the media.

Vulnerable workers failed

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said the latest Labour analysis on how the EAS has been hobbled by government cuts shows the Tories are “failing to act to protect even the most vulnerable workers in Britain.”

“Deliberate government cuts undermining the work of enforcement by bodies like the employment agency standards inspectorate and health & safety executive leave bad bosses free to exploit at will,” he added.

“The extent of these cuts not only identifies the real agenda of the Tories when it comes to workers’ rights. It also demonstrates that rights are worthless to those working in fear without strong, effective trade unions.”

Labour MP Ian Lavery agreed, noting that the analysis “demonstrates the government’s unwillingness to stand up for working people.”

‘Scandal’

“This Tory government’s record is a scandal,” he noted.

“Despite the government’s rhetoric on irresponsible capitalism, and tackling unscrupulous employers in the wake of the Sports Direct inquiry, it is clear that they have undermined the work of the very agency charged with investigating breaches in employment agency practices,” Lavery added.

“The government is leaving too many workers at the whim of unscrupulous employers.”

The Labour analysis comes as the party presents how it will tackle the new challenges workers face in a labour market that’s continuously changing, often for the worse. This new Labour initiative is called Workplace 2020 and will be led by Lavery.

The party calls on working people to submit their own recommendations for what they think the world or work should ideally be like in the future.

“Ultimately, it is only by listening to people, and understanding their experiences, that we will be able to create a workplace that caters to everybody,”

Shadow business secretary John Trickett wrote in Labour List today as he laid out the reasons Labour had set up Workplace 2020.

“We all have different needs,” he pointed out. “From the self-employed web-designer, who enjoys the freedom of working for themselves, to the barista who longs for a stable pay packet at the end of the week.

“From the woman who wants a more flexible workplace so that she can maintain her career while having children, to the those who prefer the right to take time out to raise their children without struggling to make ends meet.

“From the 18-year-old who wants to go on to university on leaving school, to the young person seeking an apprenticeship – or, different again, someone seeking to change career paths and retrain later in life,” Tricket noted.

“It is only by listening to all of these people – and more – that we can start to create the kind of workplaces we want and deserve in 21st Century Britain.”

Find out more about Workplace 2020 here.