Bernard McNamee’s Post

Your Chamber is raising the voice of business in Skills & Workforce 🧠 We are a proud supporter of the British Chambers of Commerce Manifesto, amplifying our local business voice to a national level. The Manifesto makes clear our asks of the next UK government in five key areas: Green Innovation, People & Work, Local Economy of the Future, Global Britain, and Digital Revolution. Plan Better for Skills Create a long-term plan to close the skills gap. Businesses and training providers should collaborate locally. Incentivize businesses to invest in skills via tax and an investment kitemark. Prepare Adults and Young People for Work Boost adult upskilling and retraining through apprenticeships and technical qualifications. Invest in comprehensive career education in schools for better life and work skills. Help People Access and Stay in Jobs Facilitate transitions from Universal Credit to work, improve access to childcare, and offer quality careers advice. Encourage fair workplaces with pay gap transparency and social value in procurement. Click here to see more details of the British Chamber of Commerce Manifesto: https://lnkd.in/g3PC8NV3 To have your voice heard, contact us at [email protected]

Work-based learning opportunities are an investment to your business, and young people in Scotland. They can provide: ✅ A skilled workforce ✅ Increased loyalty ✅ Fewer skills gaps ✅ More Learn more: https://bit.ly/3NVJukr #DYWScot #YPGuarantee

📣CBI (Confederation of British Industry) has released its Business Manifesto, calling for crucial reforms within the first 100 days of the new government to drive sustainable growth and investment in the UK.💼 Key recommendations include: ✅ Revitalising the investor pitch for 'Brand Britain' ✅ Delivering a Net Zero Investment Plan ✅ Unlocking the power of UK regions ✅ Building a tax environment that drives investment ✅ Transforming the planning system ✅ Boosting the labour market & productivity Kate Shoesmith from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation strongly supports the call for Apprenticeship Levy reform, allowing levy funding for high-quality, modular training to enable more people, including temporary workers, to train and fill vacancies. 📚👷♀️ The next government must quickly address labour and skills shortages, which could cost the economy £39 billion per year if left unchecked. 💸 #BusinessManifesto #ApprenticeshipLevy #LabourMarket Read more about the CBI's manifesto and the REC's response at https://lnkd.in/eE3BeXxQ

To the extent that the Office of the FWO has responsibilities outside monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Fair Work Act, those responsibilities should be redistributed within government. I think this whenever I see the Office of the FWO promoting its underpayment recovery efforts. Those recovery efforts are to be admired. We should all welcome employees being paid their lawful entitlements. However, there's a strange tension between being responsible for helping employers to comply while also being responsible for enforcing and prosecuting compliance. If we take every underpayment recovery as an indication of the FWO's successful enforcement efforts, then we should also take every recovery as a poor reflection on their education, assistance and advice responsibilities. DEWR is probably the natural home for education etc, but I reckon it would be interesting to make the FWC responsible for education and advice on award compliance. This would inevitably create a feedback loop that would help the FWC improve and simplify the awards.

Businesses across Northern Ireland recognise that people and skills are the foundation of a successful economy. That’s why the announcement of £12million of funding to be allocated to skills interventions is hugely welcome. With local universities and further education colleges having faced significant financial pressures in recent years, this announcement will not only provide much-needed short-term relief, but also demonstrates a clear commitment to building a more resilient and competitive economy in the long-term.  With CBI research showing that 90% of the UK’s workforce will need up-skilling by 2030, investing in the local workforce now is critical as Northern Ireland transitions towards a more modern, digitised and green economy. https://lnkd.in/eJ_DftuB  

Thanks for sharing Rachel, and totally agree with your comments. Interesting to see how the Skills piece will play in to the productivity drive over the next 12 months. There is a lot to do, but a real need to retrain the workforce to achieve some of these promises. Lots to digest. #Skills  #autumnstatement2023 #autumnstatement #publicsector

Ranton with Anton - When I Become PM 1 Good afternoon people of Great Britain. I am pleased to start today my pledge, to you the people of GB. And this is part 1 of my manifest - this is in line with seeing what the so called next government is pledging 1. Getting people back to work There are no subsections to this pledge. I pledge to cut unemployment and to also cut the social benefits budget at the same time. If you dont have a doctors certificate as to why you cant work, you are not getting benefits. If you have been made redundant, you will have six months to find employment and then your benefit will stop. If you think you can scam the system, you cant. Its quite simply you either work or you dont. There are enough jobs in this country that need doing and we will fill these jobs with people who would have other wise been on unemployment benefits. For companies, there is also good news. I will be scrapping the Apprentice levy for all, but for those of you who are employing apprentices I thank you for your service and for the good work you are doing in order to get people working again. this is not a rise against the people, but this is a time to make change. Over the pas tfew years we have had unemployment benefits being paid despite there being work needing to be done. Well now is the time we kick on and get people out of the system. My advice: Stub that fag out, put down your beer and get ready to make Britain Great Again