What the latest King's Speech means for people with Parkinson's

Parkinson's UK welcomes many of the proposed new laws the new government announced in the King's Speech. 

Several will be helpful to the Parkinson's community and we hope to work with Ministers to make sure the Bills lead to real and meaningful improvements for people with the condition and their care partners.

Here's a brief breakdown of the 3 key Bills we believe are most relevant, and what they could mean for our community:

Employment Rights Bill

We know people with Parkinson's want to work for as long as it's healthy to, but need support to make this possible.

The Employment Rights Bill would improve working conditions by introducing rights including:

• making flexible working, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal available from the first day in a job
• strengthening statutory sick pay by making it available from the first day of absence and to people on lower wages
• establishing a Fair Pay Agreement for the adult social care sector, to try to address staffing pressures and training standards for social care workers.

These new provisions could make a big difference for many in the Parkinson's community, tackling some of the reasons people find it hard to stay working. They could also boost pay in the much needed, but notoriously underpaid, adult social care sector.

Equality (Race and Disability) Bill

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that both disabled people and people from ethnic minorities earn less on average than their non-disabled and white peers respectively.

Building on the success of gender pay gap reporting, this Bill aims to make disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting mandatory for large employers. It enshrines the full right to equal pay for both groups too.

These crucial steps could make it easier for people with Parkinson's to bring an unequal pay claim. Lots of barriers currently prevent this. Mandatory reporting will also expose pay disparities and encourage action from employers.

However, more action is still needed to monitor and improve the position of disabled workers. We'll be calling on employers to also report on policies and practices designed to include and support disabled people in the workplace, such as:

• the number of jobs they've redesigned to accommodate disabled employees' changing needs
• the number of Access to Work agreements they have in place.

Skills England Bill

This Bill would create an organisation called 'Skills England' to identify and plug skills gaps by region. Addressing skills gaps across key areas in health, social care and research is urgently needed.

In particular, we want to work with Ministers to make sure the new body will take action on healthcare workforce shortages. We believe there needs to be an in-depth and strategic assessment of the workforce challenges and a growth plan for the neurology and care of the elderly workforce.

We also believe there needs to be a significant upskilling of healthcare professionals who care for people with Parkinson's.

What we think

Laura Cockram, Head of Campaigns at Parkinson's UK. said:

"Several proposed Bills in the King's Speech could provide a real boost for the Parkinson's community. These include bolstering employment rights, and enshrining the right of disabled workers to equal pay with non-disabled workers across the UK.

"There is also a renewed focus on skills gaps in England that could substantially help tackle the skills shortages that both carers and families have told us about. There is a good deal to celebrate.

"Our priority now is to ensure that these new Bills are as ambitious as they can be. That's why we're asking supporters to contact their MPs and encourage them to meet with us at the autumn party conferences. We'd like to discuss our vision for how these Bills, and the new government's policy plans, can be realised to improve health, care and financial support for the Parkinson's community."