Coming in the same week as the government failed to include a long-awaited Employment Bill in the Queen’s Speech, the statement from 10 Downing Street said the MP will work with experts on labour market policy, including across government, parliamentarians, academia and think tanks, to develop this year “a detailed assessment on key issues facing the labour market and provide a set of recommendations for Government to consider”.

Warman has previously served as a Parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Culture, Media & Sport. The statement said he “brings a wealth of experience to the role from a range of industries, including science, tech and media”.

The government statement goes on to say: “The review will build on existing government commitments (including those made in response to the Matthew Taylor Review) to assess what the key questions to address on the future of work are as we look to support people to progress in work with the skills they need and grow the economy.”

However, Dave Chaplin, CEO of contracting specialist ContractorCalculator, blasted this latest move by government around the UK work world.

“We need action, and we needed an Employment Bill,” Chaplin said.

“This is more lip service I fear by a government that continues to ignore the experts who feed in their advice on a regular basis in the hope it will be recognised and help to shape policy for the better. We have seen countless reviews but it’s action that is needed, not more reviews.

“There is general apathy in the market these days to help government with their reviews. Why should all us experts work for free, providing our expertise, so government can just ignore us?”

Chaplin described the terms of the latest review as “a dressed-up foregone conclusion… Something of this nature should be wide-ranging and take a considerable amount of time but they have a very short period in which to garner evidence. My guess is they have decided a thing needs to be done, and are seeking to gather the views, with an air of legitimacy to make it happen.

“Given the inaction of the Conservatives in this area,” Chaplin continued, “experts who still want to make this happen might have more chance of shaping a better future if they start advising the Labour Party, helping them to shape good policies for the next General Election. Labour is more likely to enact something meaningful if they gain power.”

Chaplin went on to allege: “This short review by Warman could simply be an information-gathering exercise, to shape some vote-winning policies for a rumoured snap-election. We’ve seen it all before, I fear! The Tories purport to support the hard-working British public but the public are the voters, and they are fast losing faith in a government that simply does not put its money where its mouth is.”

The Future of Work Review will inform government’s plans to see that the UK has “the right workforce, skills and working environment to seize the new economic opportunities of Brexit, Levelling Up and Net Zero”, the government statement said.

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