Policy implications
These new marketplaces don't need funding from government. It has always been intended that the private sector take them forward. But government spending across all sorts of areas could be channeled very productively through local markets for hours. And government has the means to raise the profile of this new possibility for millions of people. That requires a coherent response to an unplanned opportunity that spans multiple policy agendas.
This new way of working is now coming over the horizon, driven by multiple factors. (See our market research section). There is a danger that current policies, which don't envisage such markets, could unintentionally slow their progress, or deny access to the people who need them most.
Discussions with policymakers about Slivers-of-Time markets currently revolve around a step-by-step plan for central government support. Each step is predicated on successful outcome of the previous stage. The thinking has emerged from the Oxford Economic Forecasting Report: "Slivers-of-Time: Making the Labour Market Work Better".
The three steps are:
1) Profile
Slivers-of-Time marketplaces are a government success story. But they have become something of an orphan project. The e-gov agenda which funded their accelerated launch is no more. Nor is the Office of Deputy PM which contained that agenda. This has made it difficult to set up an official announcement of this new life choice for millions of Brits.
Informally, politicians from both major parties have recognised the emerging value of people being able to sell individual hours as an alternative to a conventional full or part-time job.
Stephen Timms, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Speech to the Rowntree Foundation Informal Economy event 26th June 2006. www.stephentimmsmp.org.uk
Hilary Armstrong, Social Exclusion Minister, Speech to IPPR North, 7th July 2006 www.hilaryarmstrong.com
Philip Hammond, the Shadow Secretary of State for Work & Pensions makes his landmark speech on the Tory commitment to a flexible workforce at a Slivers-of-Time training room in East London.
It is hoped these ad hoc pronouncements will lead towards a co-ordinated strategy for announcing this new way of working at some point.
2) Pump priming
Already allocated budgets across the country could be used to get these new markets rapidly off the ground. In some cases it could make the expenditure much more cost effective as it spreads work through communities.
But budget holders, reasonably, want some formal assurance that it is OK to innovate with committed expenditure, bearing in mind they have undertaken to spend it the old-fashioned way. An explicit recognition of the value of maximizing impact of spend beyond formal targets would make the decision a lot easier for delivery-focused managers.
3) New Policy
Government currently has an ambitious target to get 80% of working age Britons in full time employment. The outcomes on which Jobcentres, skills providers and regeneration projects are judged too often flow from this. Anything less than a client into a conventional job for 3 months is often a waste of time for front-line staff. That can leave Slivers-of-Time marginalized.
80% full-time employment would obviously be good. But where does that leave the 20%? A black-and-white target as it currently stands could consign them to economic inactivity. Why not a policy target that half of them sell at least 5 hours a week? That would galvanise an entire support network around people who want to work differently.
There are other changes that could follow from a willingness to adapt policy specifically around ultra-fragmented work. See, for example, our section on the future of benefits and skills.
Innovation by government
The initial success of Slivers-of-Time has highlighted the issue of how government handles innovation. As departments have become increasingly focused on delivery targets, there is an understandable lack of mindshare available for something unproven. Particularly if it might achieve high level objectives, rather than specific targets.
Slivers-of-Time, for example, can do a lot to increase exposure to work. But it's often seen as hindering creation of full time jobs; a traditional target for decision makers.
Issues of how the public sector handles innovation are well documented. But they do mean that new solutions can sometimes be sidelined at all levels of government. Fortunately, in this case, there are innovators around the UK who are launching Slivers-of-Time pilots based on analysis of local needs. But their mission would be made much easier by clear direction from Whitehall.
