Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the guaranteed-hours provisions in the Employment Rights Bill on (a) levels of self-employment (b) the ratio of fixed-term contracts to permanent contracts.

The Government has published its Impact Assessment and Economic Analysis for the Employment Rights Bill.

As stated, the guaranteed hours provisions aim to reduce the risk of workers being pushed into casual employment, increase predictability for workers with variable hours, and still allow those who prefer zero-hours contracts to keep them.

The Bill contains provisions to tackle avoidance mechanisms that might be used by employers to avoid the new rights, for example use of fixed-term contracts where work is ongoing. Whether an individual is self-employed or a worker is not a choice but depends on the reality of the relationship.