Thu, 25 Sep 2014 | By Tom Hadley, director of policy, Recruitment & Employment ConfederationThe last party conference season before a general election is always a pivotal time on the political scene. Each party needs to show electorates what they are made of by starting to unveil key messages and campaign themes.

In his speech earlier this week, Ed Miliband said Labour would prioritise six goals. For the recruitment industry, there were four main areas of interest:

• The local agenda. Coming hot on the heels of the Scottish referendum, a recurring theme at this conference was devolution across all regions and cities. Labour is firm in its commitment that local areas need to have more control over local budgets and services. For recruiters, this means building connections with your Local Enterprise Partnerships (which Labour have pledged to retain should they win the general election) as these are likely to have a greater say over local investment budgets for skills training, business development and infrastructure projects. Many Labour MPs recognise that better training for all those with responsibility for procurement budgets would need to be top of their list to make ‘devo-max’ work in practice.

• The international agenda. Looking beyond the UK, Labour spokespeople explained why they felt business interests would be best served by remaining within the EU. Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna also said a Labour government would reform UKTI to make it easier for businesses to grow and work overseas.

• New jobs funded by a renewed focus on tax avoidance. The big commitment was how a Labour government would create 36,000 new jobs in the NHS, and better support all public sector workers, including teachers. The two Eds [shadow chancellor Balls and Labour leader Miliband] made it absolutely clear that all Labour’s promises will have to be delivered on a zero-based budget through introducing a mansion tax and cracking down on tax avoidance. The media specifically mentioned a crackdown on umbrella companies as part of these calculations – an important point to be aware of, and which chimes with calls from others for better enforcement to create a ‘level playing field’ in the tax system.

• Making work pay. Ed Miliband made a strong play in his speech for how a Labour government would seek to support workers and “harness the talents of everyone” – an interesting point given how recruiters are increasingly finding it a candidate-led market.

There was plenty of buzz around conference with regards to Labour’s promises to increase the National Minimum Wage to £8 by 2020 and end “exploitative zero hours contracts”. Miliband referred to “the growing army of the self-employed” who would be given equal rights in the future should Labour be elected.

When we asked Rachel Reeves MP, shadow secretary for work and pensions, what sort of support would be on offer, she was unequivocal that this would mean simplification of the benefits system and that pensions would be made more accessible to self-employed people.

Recruiters are not only going to be a great source of information for policy makers in explaining how self-employment works now and what needs to change, they are also going to be important conduits for explaining any new employment rights to their candidates and clients. We highlighted to party officials in attendance that our recent report ‘Flex Appeal’ recommended there needed to be more government support to ensure those working on a temporary, contract, interim or freelance basis can access mortgages and other services. Many agreed this deserves further exploration.  

It’s important to keep making the case for flexible labour to policy makers of all parties, and to help them understand that our industry is in a unique position to provide practical insight into how the labour market is changing and what new measures can really make a difference.

Next stop, Birmingham with the Conservatives.