The Labour party released its election manifesto yesterday and it did not contain many new policies relating to tax, businesses or umbrella companies. They did promise to keep business taxation competitive and encourage investment by increasing capital allowances.
Although the party pledges to cut £6bn from business regulatory costs, they announced that there would be more regulation for institutional shareholders.
Gordon Brown wants to reform corporate governance and to do this the UK Stewardship Code needs to be strengthened. Banks will be required to put their remuneration policies to their shareholders for approval and shareholders will need to declare how they vote.
High earning prison offenders will find the tax system clawing back a proportion of their prison stay and confiscating assets will become a standard principle in sentencing. These assets will then be used to pay back the community.
The government also hopes to protect employment rights in the construction industry by extending the gangmaster licensing legislation to cover the sector; but only if evidence shows that this is the best way to enforce those rights.
The Labour manifesto does include some interesting pledges which they hope will help recruitment. They expect to create one million new jobs by 2015 and 400,000 of these will be green jobs. The government also guarantees that a worker moving into employment after a spell on benefits will be at least £40 per week better off. In a further bid to help local low skilled people get work, immigrants with low skills from outside the EU will no longer be granted visas to the UK.
Fathers will be allowed to share maternity leave so that they can remain at home for up to 6 months. That time is in addition to a ‘Fathers’ Month’ where they receive 4 weeks paid leave. The government also wants to create more flexible childcare provisions (a pre tax expense for umbrella company workers).
There is a lack of teachers in the UK at present and the government hopes to attract both committed graduates and career changers into the sector. Nurses will have a greater role to play in primary care and home care for the elderly will be increased. Labour also plans to increase the opening hours of GPs.
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Image: The Promise by Dyanna
