Thursday, November 20, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 16, the Summary)

Ed Miliband acknowledges the faithful after his speech at the Labour Party conference in Manchester

In the previous 15 parts of this series, I have taken 180 points from Labour's Policy Document, called its "National Policy Forum Report".  For presentational reasons these are not direct quotes, but are near-quotes. My intention has been to retain the original meanings.  I have also, however, been selective as nearly twice as many points can be found in the original document; but hopefully I have not missed out on any of the major areas which are covered.

A reason that I started to summarise these points was that I felt that the Labour Party was missing key opportunities to spread its ideas in the run up to the General Election. The earlier version of its proposals were missing from both the European Election Campaign and the Scottish Referendum Campaign. Then when Labour finally adopted its proposals at its recent annual conference, this was done in a very low key fashion.

I had two main fears. First, that we were only going to start pushing the programme in the period of the short election campaign after the Commons itself was dissolved - and this would be too late. Or secondly (even worse), that the broad sweep of the proposals would just be ignored and had only been worked upon to keep the active rank and file quiet. But things have now started to improve. Even Ed Miliband's speech at the CBI drew from what is now my final category on the Private Sector; then he came out with a strong line with an earlier point against Zero Hours Contacts.  This week the section on Immigration has been stoutly pushed by Yvette Cooper. Then tomorrow we can expect the section on the NHS to be strongly pursued in a Common's debate on a relevant Private Members Bill. On top of which there are also signs that Labour will initially seek to begin to galvanise its members first through a planned series of Regional Meetings; as shown here.

Not only do we need to push the points I cover using the media and then counter any flack they come up with; but we need canvassers and candidates to be pushing our programme. It moves us beyond New Labour and opens the door for clearer democratic socialist advance at a later stage.

This is what is covered in the previous 15 sections - 

For part 1 "Improving Wages and Working Conditions" see  here

For part 2 "Fair, Sustainable and Responsible Economic Growth" see here

For part 3 "An Equitable Tax Structure" see here

For part 4 "A Charter For Young People" see here

For part 5 "The National Health Service" see here

For part 6 "Education, Education, Education" see here

For part 7 "Local Democracy" see here

For part 8 "Political Reform and Equal Rights" see here 

For part 9 "Energy and Climate Change" see here

For part 10 "Disability. Transport" see here 

For part 11 "Policing and Security" see here


For part 12 "Europe and Immigration" see here

For part 13 "Rural and Cultural" see here

For part 14 "Our Global Role" see here

For part 15 "Pensions. Private Sector" see here

ADDED 6 DECEMBER  - There is also this, which I have just discovered on a Labour Party web-site. How many CLPs are aware of it ? And how many are making use of it ?
 http://action.labour.org.uk/index.php/cost-of-living-contract/

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 15)


Pensions

1. Protect the value of the state pension with the triple lock, rising annually by inflation, earnings or 2.5% whichever is highest (page 37)

2. Place a legal requirement on all pension scheme providers to prioritise the interest of savers over those of shareholders (37)

3. Explore how to reduce the minimum earnings threshold or auto-enrolment from the current level of personal tax allowance (currently £10,000) to the Lower Earnings Limit currently £5,772 (38)

4. Defined Contribution Schemes to have meaningful employee representatives on governance boards (38)

5.  Review the Local Government Pension Scheme, exploring the merits of merging funds to improve performance (38)

6.  Consider the case for a specific cost of living index relevant on the spending of pensioners (38)

Private Sector

7. Manufacturing is of strategic importance to a sustainable and balanced economic recovery. We will reduce energy costs for businesses via a price freeze, support science, research, development and technology and promote advanced apprenticeships; with access to funding coming through our British Investment Bank (23)

8. We will work actively with business, trade unions, communities and regions to build the economy of the future (23)

9. We will support social enterprise, mutuals, co-operatives and the not-for-profit economy (24)

10. On the Royal Mail we will keep its remaining 30% in public ownership and secure its public service obligation beyond 2015, whilst investigating the process by which it was privatised and ensure that Royal Mail services continue to be provided through Post Offices (24)

11. Tackle the monopoly market for rail rolling stock and bring Network Rail together with a new representative passenger rail body to contract routes, co-ordinate services and skills in the industry, oversee stations, fares, ticketing, and ensure customer satisfaction (45) 
   
12. Require water companies to publish full annual information which a revitalised Ofwat will then use to evaluate whether they should cut bills (49)

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 14)


Our Global Role

1. On human rights we should lead other nations by example - for women's rights, an end to bias and ill treatment of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. This should involve the enhancement of workers' rights (page 127)

2. Being appalled by the human rights abuse in Qatar sponsored by the Kafala employment system, we call for Qatar's right to hold the World Cup to be removed (127)

3. We support access to Syria for the full implementation of the UN Security Council's Presidential Statement on humanitarian access (128)

4. Seek a comprehensive peace in the Middle East on the basis of a two state solution for Israel and Palestine, recognising the illegal nature of the West Bank and support the end to the blockade of Gaza (128)

5. Will enshrine in law the UK target to spend 0.7% of GDP on overseas development assistance (129)

6. With the deadline for reaching the Millennium Development Goals expiring in 2015, we will support a post-2015 development agenda seeking to eradicate global poverty, promote sustainability and end aid dependency based on humane conditions (129)

7. Sharing tax information must be extended to developing countries, requiring large multinational companies to publish key information needed to assess the amount of tax they pay (129)

8. Ensure that the UK, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories share tax information with other countries to allow developing countries to deal with the transfer pricing challenge and improve tax collection capabilities (129)

9. In supplying relief in emergencies, seek to be timely and effective and press to improve the coordination of the global response (130)

10. Campaign for an international Financial Tax covering major financial centres to curb the volatility of financial transactions (130)  This also appears in Part 2, item 12.     

11. Help to ensure that an effective and enforceable agreement to cut global carbon emissions is effective by 2010 (131)

12. Work with our partners to achieve a low carbon energy supply and create more green jobs (131)  This also appears in Part 9, item 9.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 13)



Rural and Cultural

1. Work with employers to challenge low pay in rural areas, freezing business rates and energy bills for small and medium size enterprises - SMEs (page 51)

2. Raise the profile of career opportunities in rural areas and help SMEs and food businesses access the investment they need to expand (51)

3. Pay Winter Fuel Payments earlier for pensioners using off-grid energy (often in rural areas) allowing them to purchase their energy at lower summer prices and store up supplies for the winter (51)

4. Restore trust in the food system by enhancing the role of the Food Standard's Agency (51)

5. Tackle cruelty in the breeding policies of the pet industry, promote responsible pet ownership and address the trade in exotic pets (52)

6. Eradicate TB through the vaccination of badgers and cattle and not via a misguided and unscientific badger cull (52)

7.  Protect Britain's natural environment, right to roam and wildlife for future generations (52)

8. Develop a regional strategy to support the arts in all parts of the country (52)

9. Ensure adequate funding for the BBC, protect community libraries and ensure that all homes and businesses have access to reliable broadband services (52,53)

10. Establish a low-cost arbitration service as recommended by Leveson to provide justice for victims of libel and other press abuses (71)

11. Ensure that bona fide supporters clubs are recognised and given statutory consultation rights over the future of sports grounds (71)

12.  Encourage the development of community marketing co-operatives to encourage the development of tourism (72)


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 12)


Europe and Immigration

1. Recognise that Britain's relationship with Europe is of vital importance and that the benefits from membership of the EU cannot be underestimated, as it is our major trading partner (page 121) 

2. On the trade deal being negotiated between the EU and the USA (TTIP), see that NHS and other public services are not included in any agreement (121)

3. Allow governments in the EU to be able to legislate for legitimate public policy objectives within any TTIP agreement, rejecting the abusive techniques of the proposed Investor-State Dispute Settlement agreement (121)

4. See Britain's national interest as being at the heart of a reformed EU which should include binding and robust human rights clauses, including ILO core standards (121)

5.  Seek tough new EU budget discipline with a stronger independent audit, a balanced growth plan, a new Growth Commissioner and reform of the Common Market Agricultural Policy; with an end to the wasteful duplication of holding its parliament in Strasbourg as well as Brussels (126)

6.  Press the EU to establish a new Commissioner for Growth and its own equivalent of the UK's Office of Budget Responsibility, with a remit of examining the impact EU decisions will have on the promotion of jobs and growth (126)

7. Migrants are amongst the most exploited workers in our economy and are often used to undercut other workers' positions, such abusive employment practices will not be tolerated (page 68)

8. Introduce a proper strategy for integration, requiring public sector workers to reach a basic level of English proficiency and strengthen regulations in the private sector to prevent rouge landlords from cramming immigrants into sub-standard housing (69)

 9. Give powers to border staff to act quickly when they find abuse, training to help victims of trafficking, and ensure exit checks are put in place to track who is coming in and leaving the country (page 70)

10. Tackle the exploitation of migrant workers, an approach which also undercuts local workers; using a  greater enforcement of the minimum wage and a register to tackle rogue landlords. Place a ban on recruitment agencies hiring exclusively from abroad, whilst extending the remit of the Gangmasters' Licensing Authority (126, 69)

11. Make changes to the Job Seekers' Allowance to clarify that people without contributions should not receive benefits when they first arrive in Britain (126)  

12.  Review the practice of sending family benefits to relatives living abroad (126)  



Monday, November 17, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 11)



Policing and Security

1. Tackle cross-border crime in co-operation with police and judicial authorites in Europe (page 64)

2. Return to neighbourhood policing, getting officers back on the beat  (64, 65))

3. Introduce a Victims Law to give victims of crime new entitlements (65)

4. Extend legal protections for victims of hate crime (66)

5. Extend legal aid and make wealthy criminals fund legal bills from their frozen assetts (66)

6. Reform prisons so that inmates engage in productive activity and prioritise rehabilitation (66)

7. Establish a commissioner on domestic and sexual voilence to sit at the heart of government (67)


8. Increase action to stop human trafficking, including reviewing the operation of the domestic visitors visa (68)

9. Improve the effectiveness of our co-operation with other countries, with our continuing support for the European Arrest Warrant which has brought so many dangerous criminals to justice (122)  

10. Show international leadership on reducing the flow of arms to repressive regimes (122)

11. Work to enhance the momentum towards global mulilateral nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation (123)

12. Protect and develop a highly skilled defence sector workforce (123) 


Sunday, November 16, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 10)



(A) Disability


1.  End the contract with ATOS and reform the Work Capacity Assessement to focuses on the support people need to work and give disabled people a role in reviewing the operation of the test (35, 36)

2. Work with disabled people and their organisations to reform the discredited Work Capacity Assessment (36)

3. Create good quality and sustainable jobs for disabled people drawing lessons from the Remploy model (36)   

4. Ensure that employees facing terminal illness receive support if they wish to remain in work (36)

5 Work with disability organisations to enhance access to public transport, including a strategy for step-free access to railway and underground station and trains; plus the provision of audio-visual announcement systems (43)

(B) Transport

6. Tackle the rising costs of using buses and rail and also tackle the reduction in the quality of local bus services (Page 42)

7. In tackling rising transport costs, bring transport provisions closer to communities and passengers; whilst integrating freight transport - by road, rail, air and sea. (42)


8. Ensure that safe public transport caters for people who work late hours (43)

9. Allow a public sector operator to take on railway lines and challenge train operators on a level playing field(44)

10. Use  cooperative principles to provide for passenger and employee involvement (44)

11. Place a strict cap on annual rail fare increases across all routes (45)

12. Regain control of the High Speed 2 budget and ensure that the project creates new apprenticeships and job opportunties (46)








Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 9)


Energy and Climate Change

1. Take immediate action to freeze energy bills, whilst reforming the energy market to put transparency and competition back into the industry by legislating to force energy companies to separate their generation and supply businesses (pages 10, 17)

2. Labour is committed to tackling climate change and will take advantage of the opportunities that have arisen from the low-carbon economy and green industries (13)

3. Support different models of energy generation and ownership; including co-operative, mutual and municipal models (47)

4. Introduce simpler tariff structures to make it easier for consumers to compare prices, with a new tougher regulator to ensure a fair deal (47)

5. Support pensioners, households with a disabled person, families receiving Child Tax Credit and other vunerable households with insulating their homes and in improving their heating systems (47)

6. In reducing the amount of energy we use, we will radically reform the current Energy Company Obligation by using area-based programmes led by local authorities in partnership with businesses (48)

7. Comprehensively uprate the energy deficiency of a vast stock of our homes (48)

8. Create a new generation of technicians to retro-fit energy conservation and low carbon measures that will reduce household bills and the country's carbon footprint (48)

9. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today and our energy policy must reflect the need to decarbonise our energy supply in order to meet emission targets (49)

10.  We will decarbonise the power sector by 2030 and commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 32% in 2025 (49)

11.  Shale gas is not a silver bullet and faces important regulatory and environmental questions; to meet the twin goals of a low carbon supply and keeping energy bills as low as possible, we need an energy mix of renewables, nuclear and carbon capture, which is vitally important for the future of coal (49, 50)

12. We will reprioritise flood protection (50)

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 8)


Political Reform and Equal Rights

1. Reform the legislative process so that interested citizens can more easily engage in making and scrutinising laws (Page 110)

2. Encourage more diversity in representation at all levels of governance: including school governors, councillors and parliament as there are still too few women, BAME, LGBT, disabled and working class candidates (110)

3. MPs will have new limits placed on outside earnings, with a ban placed on second jobs. (110, 111) 

4. Turn the House of Lords into an elected Second Chamber, using a proportional system and providing a forum for regional representation (111)

5. When the franchise is extended to 16 year olds (see part 4), we will introduce a schools and colleges electoral registration programme with the placing of ballot boxes in these areas (111)

6. As millions are missing from electoral registers, when anyone comes into contact with central or local government services and when their business is concluded it will be checked as to whether they have registered to vote. We will also look into the merits of placing ballot boxes in public places and providing electronic voting (111)

7. Build on our proud history of fighting discrimination by re-instating the third party and pay transparency aspects of our 2010 Equality Act (113)

8. Strengthen laws against discrimination for those taking maternity leave (114)

9. Pursue a goal of 50% for all ministerial appointments to public boards to ensure women are fairly represented and look at how public policy can better consider the lives of women in their fifties and onwards (114)

10. Work to achieve the rights which disabled people are entitled to under the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, which have been undermined by benefit changes (115)

11. Introduce specific criminal charges of incitement to disability hatred (116)

12.  Tackle racism in all its forms and prevent the politics of hate being employed by extremist organisations (117)

Friday, November 14, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 7)


Local Democracy

1. Transfer responsibility for local transport decisions to elected and accountable transport authorities and partnerships (43)

2. Legislate to give local authorities more powers to create better bus networks (44)

3. Devolve decisions over the running of regional and local transport services, so that areas can bring trains, buses, ferries and trams into a single network (45)

4. Monitor the operation of Right to Buy in order to empower local authorities to better manage their housing stock (page 57)

5. Support local authorities who want to build more social homes and encourage those who are not building to do so, whilst reforming the Housing Revenue account to build new homes to the maximum potential and to improve existing homes (58)

6. Tackle land banking by giving local authorities powers to charge developers who refuse to build, despite having planning permission (58) 

7. Reform the Housing Revenue Account system to ensure that communities receive a larger share of gains from developments (58)

8. City and County Regions that come together will be given historic new powers over transport, housing, skills and economic development (60)

9. Provide a fairer funding formula for local government linked to need and ensuring that local authorities are properly resourced by allowing them to control more tax revenues and spending in their areas (61) 

10. Devolve new powers to local authorities and groups of local authorities for skills and employment support, economic growth and health and well-being (62)

11. Empower communuties to shape their high streets to tackle the prolification of betting shops, fast food outlets and pay day lenders; whilst creating more demand for town centre shops by building appropriate housing near to town centres (63) 

12. Legislate for a new settlement that devolves significant new powers to local government (113)

Some of the above points can only be legislated from Westminster for English areas; for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland they fall under the remit of their devolved administrations.   

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 6)


Education, Education, Education 

1. Ensure that all teachers in state funded schools have, or are working towards, a Qualified Teacher Status and remain up to date with subject and pedagogical skills; and receive disability equality training (pages 75, 76, 88)

2. See that teachers have a fair, consistent national pay system, whilst reinstating the School Staff Negotiating Body set up by the last Labour Government to develop consistency in pay, conditions and job roles for school support staff in publically funded schools (76)

3. Empower local communities to have a greater say about education in their area, with Local Authorities appointing and holding to account Directors of School Standards, thus ending the fragmentation of the school system (78)

4.  We will not continue with the Free Schools programme, such existing schools will be held to the same high standards as other schools, working with the local family of schools and with the Director of School Standards (80)

5. Ensure that the Charity Commission rigorously assesses private schools to see they meet their charitable status and work with their local communities and state schools in their area (80)

6. Local Authorities will be able to open new community schools once more, with decisions on school places being taken locally (81)

7. Increase the number of young people studying science, including young women. Whilst providing access to other high quality education; including in the areas of sex and relationships, civic responsibilities, plus social and moral awareness (82)

8. Support health and well-being in schools; with a stress upon physical education, school nursing, continuing free school meals for all infants and the development of breakfast schools (82, 83)

9. Ensure there are retraining and lifelong learning options (85)

10. Provide targeted early intervention, with Sure Start playing a key role; whilst expanding free childcare from 15 to 25 hours for working parents of three and four year-olds; for families who require childcare, we will introduce a legal guarantee to wraparound care from 8am to 6pm through their local school (87)

11. We will not allow any new grammar schools to open (87)

12. Ensure equal access to educational opportunities with a fair admission's policy under a Schools Admission Code, the removal of financial barriers on young people, provide periods of face-to-face tuition on full time courses in further education and operate a child protection system (87, 88) 

 The above are a selection of  proposals made in the Labour Party policy document "Education and Children". Other items from this document appeared in Part 4 as part of "A Charter For Young People".



Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 5)



The National Health Service

1. Within the NHS bring together physical health, mental health and social care into a single service to meet all of a person's care needs, with a focus on prevention, thus ending fragmentation (pages 93 and 95)

2. Repeal the Health and Social Care Act 2012, scrapping regulations which force services to be put out to tender and bring back failed contracted services into the public sector (93)

3. Oppose the inclusion of the NHS and other public services into a trading agreement which is currently being negotiated between European Union and the USA, as this would block such  proposals (93, 94) 

4. Make Foundation, NHS and Community Trusts accountable to the public and fully integrate all service providers to work in a collaborative and not a competitive way (94)

5. Create a national entitlement, written into the NHS Constitution, to ensure that patients get legal rights to access the services they need, replacing the current market system which does nothing to provide real choice to patients (95)

6. Give people the right to receive their end-of-life care at a place of their choosing, with family around them (96)

7. Ensure communities have a real say in shaping local services, taking power away from NHS commissioners and giving it to independent bodies such as the Health and Wellbeing Board, with a duty to secure real public engagement (97)

8. Give NHS patients the right of same-day consultation with their local GP surgery and the right to book an appointment within 48 hours with the GP of their choice (98)

9. People need a fairer deal and protection against the rising costs of care. Greater localism of services will have a beneficial impact (100)

10. There will be a greater institutional recognition of the rights of carers, including young carers and their rights to childhood (101)

11. Ensure that mental illness is treated with the same level of priority as physical illness, creating a new right to psychological therapies, with more mental health specialists working in teams with GPs, nurses and carers (104)

12. Support the excellent work of health unions and strengthen collective bargaining structures in the NHS to work towards a fairer system of pay setting (105)

The above are a selection of some 40 proposals made in the Labour Party policy document "Health And Care"




Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 4)


A Charter For Young People

1. On university funding, we will reduce the burden on students and relate repayments to the ability to pay (pages 25, 85)

2. Raise the status and quality of vocational education with a gold standard qualification, covering relevant work experience plus English and Maths skills to be achieved by the age of 18; whilst building a post-18 apprenticeship and vocational education system (25, 77)

3. Provide high quality careers advice in schools and colleges (33, 78)

4. Introduce a fully funded jobs guarantee for young people who have been out of work for a year, which will pay the wages of participants for 25 hours a week, on at least the minimum wage (35)

5. Provide a quality and professional youth service (82, 109)

6. Ensure that all apprenticeships and occupational standards are agreed via industry-led bodies, comprising trade unions, employees and technical representatives relevant to the occupations, industries and sectors they serve (84)

7. Use public sector procurement to ensure that high quality apprenticeship is a prerequisite for any bid for significant government contracts (84)

8. Ensure that young people are better educated about their civic role via better quality citizenship education (108)

9. Outside of formal education; volunteering and mentoring schemes will be used to encourage democratic participation and involvement in civic society by young people (109)

10. Lower the voting age to 16 for all UK elections and provide avenues and facilities for young people to engage in the democratic process (109)

11. See that pupils are involved in decision-making in schools, whilst encouraging local councils to adopt a youth council or youth mayor programme (109)

12. Ensure that when young people have the opportunity to participate in youth services, they engage with their local communities and learn through practice about civic responsibilities (109) 

Monday, November 10, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 3)



An Equitable Tax Structure

1. A 10p starting rate of taxation which will benefit those on lower and middle incomes (page 16)

2. A progressive mansion tax on properties worth over £2 million (16)

3. Close down loopholes which allow people and businesses to engage in tax evasion, including their shifting of profits out of the UK (16, 17)

4. Pursue greater transparency around revenues, profits and taxes paid to ensure that the way companies allocate their profits for tax purposes is fair (16)

5. Press for international action to tackle tax aviodance which arises through the use of tax havens (16)

6. End cuts in corporation tax for multinationals and large businesses (17,18)

7. Restore the 50p top rate of tax for those earning over £150,000 (18)  

8. Provide a tax rebate to those companies that sign up to become living wage employers (28)

9. Require companies to publish the ratio of pay of their top earner compared to their average employees (28)

10. Increase the bank levy and use the resources to expand free childcare (28, 87)

11. Abolish the Bedroom Tax (33, 35)

12. Support a progressive taxation system and ensure that the wealthiest individuals and businesses contribute to the society they profit from by prioritising anti-aviodance action in tax enforcement (129)
 



Sunday, November 09, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 2)


Fair, Sustainable and Responsible Economic Growth

1.  Ensure investment in key areas of our economy and the strengthening of public services (page 10)

2.  Support good management and employee relations (10)

3.  Support sectors and technologies that will generate well paid and secure jobs (10)

4.  Decentralise powers to give towns and cities new controls over transport, housing, skills and economic development (12)

5. Bring outsourced public services back in-house where this brings better value for money (12)

6. Ensure a positive public procurement process that supports employment and growth (12)

7. Set up an effective British Investment Bank to help small and medium sized businesses (13)

8.  Back low-carbon industries, including the decarbonisation of the power sector by 2030 (13)

9.  Establish an Independent Infrastructure Commission to established the UK's infrastructure needs, which will take into account our climate change targets (14)

10. Ensure that 200,000 homes a year are built by the end of the next parliament (14, 57)

11. Support a progressive taxation system, prioritising tax avoidance by the wealthiest individuals and businesses (15)

12. Seek an international Financial Transaction Tax covering major financial centres, to raise funds for the exchequer and to curb the volatility of financial transactions to help prevent a re-run of the 2008 financial crisis (15)

Saturday, November 08, 2014

Labour's Electoral Programme (Part 1)

The General Election is only six months away. If Labour is to make an impact, it needs to start pressing its electoral programme now. It has no problem in doing this, for after considerable inner-party discussions it came up with a final version of its agreed proposals at its recent Annual Conference. The document containing these proposals is entitled "National Policy Forum Report 2014" and it can be found here.  It is, however, 218 pages long and needs sorting out into more manageable chunks. This needs doing before it can be distilled into an even easier-to-handle electoral manifesto. In case no-one is sorting out these matters at the moment, I will try my hand at doing this in a series of items on this blog. Each of these will normally cover a single broad aspect of Labour's Programme and I will give the page references for each of the sub-points I refer to.  My intention is only to give the general thrust of Labour's proposals, so sometimes extra items could have been added. I will start with this area -

(1) Improving Wages and Working Conditions.

1. Strengthen the National Minimum Wage (see page 9).

2. Expand the Living Wage (9).

3. Advance the role of Pay Review Bodies (9).

4. Stamp out Zero Hours abuse (10).

5. Review TUPE's rules to avoid a race to the bottom on pay (10).
    (TUPE applies when workers are transferred to a new employee).

6. Pursue equal pay for equal work (10).


7. Expand the work of the Low Pay Commission to tackle in-work poverty (27)

8. Ensure there is an employee representative on renumeration committees (28).

9. Support flexible working for parents (28).


10. Provide proper health and safety in the workplace (29).

11. Also ensure that self-employed workers are protected. (29)

12. Use a European Court of Justice's ruling to assist in calculating holiday pay (30).