Reports today suggest that there may be yet further prevarication by the government in relation to the Agency Workers Regulations, due to come into force on 1 October. Apparently the Prime Minister's office has taken its own independent legal advice as to whether the provisions of the Regulations might be toned down, in response to the suggestion that the Regulations will have an adverse impact on the economic recovery.
However, this is all very late in the day and the legislation's coming into force in a few weeks will probably be unaffected. It is more likely that David Cameron may look to amend (or even repeal) the legislation in due course.
The press reporting of this story, which is nothing more than a rumour at this stage, is very much focused on the political implications of David Cameron appearing intent on putting Vince Cable in his place. Further, the context of Cameron's apparent concerns over the effect of the Regulations on British business (it has been suggested that the Regulations will cost British businesses around £2billion per year) is being reported as an issue relating to the economy and its recovery, not the rights (or otherwise) of agency workers. However, whether these figures prove accurate or not will only become clear in due course. If these concerns are ultimately overstated, it may be that the government concludes that there is no need to fix something that isn't broken.
Reports today suggest that there may be yet further prevarication by the government in relation to the Agency Workers Regulations, due to come into force on 1 October. Apparently the Prime Minister's