Reflecting on the Pandemic with Employment Minister, Mims Davies MP

10 May

My guest this week is Mims Davies. Mims is the Employment Minister and Mid Sussex Conservative MP.

In this episode, we reflect on the past year for the minister and the impact of the pandemic on the Department for Work and Pensions. Before Covid-19, employment was at a 45-year high, but following the first lockdown announcement on 23rd March, when the Prime Minister instructed us to ‘stay at home’, the employment landscape changed overnight.

I ask Mims how she fostered employee wellbeing in her government department following the extraordinary new workload that they faced and, looking back, if she would’ve made any decisions differently with the benefit of hindsight.

We talk about those excluded from SEISS, how the government is preparing for the end of the furlough scheme in September, and how small businesses can engage with the kickstart scheme to hire young people with wages subsidised through public funding. Mims also shares her view on the future of jobs, non-linear career paths and the gig economy.

To end the episode, Mims tells us about how she overcame presenteeism this past year and her path to entering and progressing in politics.

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“On Easter weekend last year, the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) worked 27,000 extra hours to input Universal Credit claims and support people who needed it.”

— Mims Davies