2024 UK politics - now with Labour in charge
Comments
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Does he say at what level he thinks it should kick in so that it affects people like him who are purely trying to avoid inheritance tax but doesn't hit the small family farms who need it for reasons?
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The tricky part will be for people already on ZHCs who request permanent contracts. In practice if a "right to request" is introduced I suspect there will be a gradual build up of caselaw that will set the boundaries on what it is reasonable for an employer to refuse. That is already under way with flexible working.
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One of the problems with this is people who want something else but can't get it and are then forced into taking a ZHC just so they have some option available. I think a lot of people (just in general, not accusing anyone on this forum) think it is relatively easy to get a min wage unskilled job, like working in a factory or supermarket but reality is often more tricky.
I think ZHC can be replaced by casual work contracts (which used to be more of a thing it seems), where a broad range of hours per week are agreed upon with a minimum level being guaranteed. If you are an employer that relies on casual workers, you should know week to week what your staffing requirements are and can allocate hours accordingly.
I don't really understand the point of ZHC, the people I know who had them received........ zero hours. They just seem to be used as a contingency for rare occasions where a contracted worker may be sick or unavailable.
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True, we can't always get exactly what we want. It's better in my view to have those option out there and those who want to take them can: those who don't can look for something else and there is always the safety net of the benefits system. However it's a market for jobs and if there are not enough takers for ZHC's then employers will have to offer something different.
To some extent you can understand the need for some businesses given the number of people who seem to take 'sickies' these days.
And as you mention there are alternatives that allow for flexibility and those may well be suitable for quite a few people.
In any event, Labour don't seem to have specified exactly what they will do but they have not said that they would ban ZHCs - it is looking more like a tightening up but what that means I'm not sure.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]1 -
Quite possibly. We'll need to see the detail of what Labour come up with. Clearly they need to be conscious that they don't reduce the number of opportunities by making it unattractive for businesses to offer something that has mandated terms.
Given the natural turnover of staff then this sort of change would work its way though the system over time.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
Just to reiterate that the original point was about ZHC for carers, not generally. I don't think that is an appropriate sector for casual work and I would also dispute that it is low skilled, albeit that someone without care skills can do the job badly.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Yep, I get your point. I was talking more generally above as you can probably see, as it looked to me like the debate had moved on slightly from the carer specific situation.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
Unskilled means no qualifications or experience necessary. I think I may be more familiar with the care sector than you, because I can assure you there's an army of such people in it.
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Yes, I'm saying that shouldn't be the case. Part of the problem is people thinking that it's unskilled work.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
Student Tuition fees increased.
Should have been announced in the Budget.
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I'm afraid it is literally unskilled work. It is also hard.
If the world was fair and based on usefulness, me, you, Big Bean and Stevo would be on the B-Ark
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That would mean travelling across the Galaxy with Rick...
Although depends how you define useful. I think I'm quite useful to my Group and it's shareholders.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
I think care sector jobs are unique in that whilst you may not require formal skills or training, they are jobs which rely on a fair amount of emotional resilience and empathy which are arguably qualities that could be viewed as a form of skill. Most other jobs that require the same; nurse, social worker, paramedic, teacher to name a few, obviously require skills and qualifications. Carer exists in a slightly grey area where I would argue that it should be viewed as a skilled role due to the particular demands it places on the carer and their abilities to meet the requirements of the role.
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Unskilled people do it. That's not the same thing.
The guys who were 'caring' for my father in law were not obviously skilled beyond some basic food prep but the main problem was the constantly changing rota of new faces and the semi-random times they showed up for the alloted 30 minutes. Just possibly a basic understanding of the particular circumstances of dementia might have enabled better care. I think it's reasonably obvious that care needs and the skills needed to meet those needs vary considerably depending on the person receiving the care and what they are suffering from. If all you require is the ability to, make a cup of tea and warm up a ready meal and drive to the next one, then no, that is not skilled. I'd suggest that is falling somewhat short of care. It's checking they don't starve at best.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition1 -
Have often thought that despite it being a good joke, Adams is completely wrong with that one. Generally when people think someone else's job is pointless they don't really understand what they do.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition1 -
Don't shoot the messenger.
If you think care for the elderly is undervalued, you should see what it's like for the disabled.
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Not in my area of thinking, far less expertise but I think the logic goes along the lines of, those people will not be productive so it is wasted money. To a certain extent at least it boils down to money before empathy and care.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I think it is undervalued by many of its providers, not least those with statutory duties.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
The free market normally only values stuff on what it can get away with (for instance, the children in care scandal, or the privatised water companies, for just a couple of instances). It is not benign.
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If local authorities - the statutory providers - are paying below market rate and not requiring care staff to be qualified then that will set the benchmark of what is acceptable.
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
True, though as they've been bled dry (not least by children's care homes), it's not surprising that they aren't offering extra money voluntarily.
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I think you need to get quite high up in charities and social work departments before you find too many people who have lost perspective.
I have a lot of admiration for the people I've met doing those jobs in the care sector, even when they are struggling to deliver what is required due to budgetary constraints. The majority of them are there for the right reasons and are doing their best.
They aren't paid well either, but they have all of the stress, plus the fickle habd of the CQC can slap them in the face at any time.
I wouldn't do it, even if I could.
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VAT on school fees and the raised bus fare cap to have an impact on inflation. Never thought about private school fees being in the basket.
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Education which is 2.4% of the index is based on the items below. I can't work out of how the individual items are weighted, because presumably private school fees are a lot higher than evening classes.
Extra money spent on school fees will reduce demand for something else, in theory.
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I wasn't aware of the value of the farmland that Dyson owns that would now be brought into inheritance tax. It's about HALF A BILLION pounds.
It's no wonder he's a bit peeved. He'll have to start his planning all over again.
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This is a nuanced take from Guy Watson - 'real farmers' are paying the price for the tax loophole: the value of farmland is artificially high because of its benefit for passing on wealth, not because of its farming potential. His land in France has *one tenth* of the value of his UK farm. Lower land values would help those wanting to enter the market, and would make little/no difference to farmers who already farm and just want to carry on farming in the family.
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It would be vert easy to make the IHT only apply to landlord land owners, not working farmer land owners. but Reeves failed to think of that/
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It's puzzling why the landlords are still a special case for taxation though.
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Why should farmers get a tax break that those whose property is non-agricultural can't access?
1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
To stop the farm being broken up - the exact same reason why BPR was introduced for other businesses
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