Decline in retention rates of school leaders in England
More than one-in-three secondary school leaders quit within five years of their appointment, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In primary schools, the rates were one-in-four, and nearly half of middle leaders in primary and secondary schools left within five years.
The National Association of Head Teachers has said that leadership supply for schools in England is “teetering on the brink” and accused the DfE of failing to act on the crisis.
Long-COVID and illness has driven 400,000 more people from the workforce
Research carried out by The Progressive Policy Think Tank has found that there are now over one million workers missing from the workforce compared to the pre-pandemic trend. And around 400,000 of these aren’t working because of poor health, such as long-COVID, disruption to health care and declining mental health.
If health inequality doesn’t improve, the research estimates that it will drag down economic activity this year by an estimated £8 billion. The report also shows that the relationship between health and the economy goes much further than just keeping workers away from their jobs, it’s also a decisive factor in the UK’s low productivity, low growth, and vast regional inequalities.
Rise in disability pay gap
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published a report into the differences in income between disabled and non-disabled people in the UK, finding that there’s been an increase in the median pay gap from 11.7% in 2014 to 13.8% in 2021.
The statistics also show that the disability pay gap is wider for disabled men (12.4%) than for disabled women (10.5%). Out of the four UK nations, the disability pay gap is narrowest in Wales (11.6%). And of those whose disability affects their day-to-day activities, a lot had a wider pay gap (19.9%) than those whose disability affects their day-to-day activities a little (12.1%). People with autism as their main disability had a 33.5% median pay gap.
Furlough fraud
According to a recent survey reported in LAW360, HMRC seized £39m worth of assets in the last 11 months from people and businesses suspected of defrauding government-funded furlough programmes and other economic support schemes linked to COVID-19.
Immigration: Home Office updates sponsor guidance
The Home Office has updated its sponsor guidance document Appendix D: keeping records for sponsorship. The guidance deletes the requirement for sponsors to retain a copy of each sponsored worker's current passport. It now states that employers should retain evidence that each sponsored worker has the right to work in the UK and undertake the work in question.
Other changes include clarification that employers should check and evidence the date of entry to the UK if they sponsored the worker's most recent entry clearance application. References to the Global Business Mobility routes (with consequential changes to other headings) are inserted, and references to manual right to work checks for biometric card holders have been deleted.
Immigration: Home Office updates right to work checks guidance for employers
The Home Office has published an updated version of its right to work checks guidance document for employers. A new Annex F has been inserted to help employers understand what steps they need to take before employing a Ukrainian national. It provides examples of passport endorsements issued to Ukrainian nationals and their family members, and an entry clearance vignette under Appendix Ukraine Scheme.
The remaining sections of the guidance are almost identical to the draft guidance document published on Friday 11 March 2022.
Equality and Human Rights Commission publishes guidance for separate and single-sex service providers
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published guidance for separate and single-sex service providers regarding the sex and gender reassignment provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to protect people from sex and gender reassignment discrimination.
Read more – May 2022
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