Terms of reference
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-25)

Outlines the objectives, membership and governance of the Labour Market Evidence Group and how it will report and communicate.

1. Purpose and objectives

The Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG) is a cross-government partnership established to support the UK Government’s aim to rebalance UK labour market away from an over-reliance on international recruitment and towards domestic workers, and to ensure that growth-driving sectors have access to the skilled workers they need now and into the future. It will do so by providing analysis and sharing evidence to inform government policy making.

The LMEG does not have policy-making powers but provides evidence to inform government decisions. The LMEG as a group will not make policy recommendations unless specifically commissioned by ministers to do so. Policy recommendations developed on the basis of LMEG evidence will be made and owned by individual LMEG members to their respective departments.

The LMEG will act to:
- integrate data and research findings from across government and external sources (including targeted stakeholder engagement) to provide a comprehensive picture of labour market needs and future direction, and migration flows, including identifying differences and trends across the UK
- generate a shared UK-wide evidence base to improve alignment between migration, education, industrial strategy, and labour market policy
- inform and support co-ordination in policy and delivery by providing timely, robust evidence to policymakers and stakeholders
- improve the data and analytical framework around labour issues, to strengthen research capacity in future - where necessary LMEG may make recommendations focused on improving evidence or data
2. Membership

On 16 September, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced that responsibility for apprenticeships, adult further education, skills, training and careers, and Skills England, would move from the Department for Education to the Department for Work and Pensions. The LMEG will review its terms of reference and membership to consider the impact of these changes by Spring 2026.

The LMEG will include senior representatives from:
- Industrial Strategy Advisory Council (ISAC) – Dame Nancy Rothwell, Deputy Chair
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – Tom Younger, Chief Economist
- Skills England (SE, Department for Education) – Phil Smith, Chair
- Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) – Professor Brian Bell, Chair
The devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are formally represented in the LMEG through equivalent representatives to Skills England.
- Scottish Government – Richard Murray, Deputy Director, Economic Development Analysis
- Welsh Government – Dr Thomas Nicholls, Welsh Government Chief Economist
- Northern Ireland Executive – Victor Dukelow, Chief Economist, Department for Economy
These representatives bring expertise and evidence on skills needs and training capacity within their respective nations, reflecting that education responsibility is devolved. The collective work of the LMEG or its findings should not be interpreted as reflecting or determining the policy stance of devolved governments.

3. Governance, commissioning and operations

The LMEG meets quarterly with a rotating chair among the four core partners. It is supported by a Senior Civil Service (SCS) group and a core team.

3.1 Approval and accountability:

Members remain accountable through their existing departmental reporting structures.

Ministers will receive regular updates on progress and analytical findings, and may request further meetings or information from their representatives on the LMEG.

3.2 Workplan development:

The LMEG will define and agree an annual workplan that outlines key deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities. The workplan will be informed by ministerial priorities, LMEG member commissions, sectoral evidence, and analytical capacity across member organisations. The LMEG workplan must be signed off by all LMEG members.

LMEG members (at chair/deputy level) will respectively send a letter to ministers in sponsoring departments (that is, Home Office, Department for Education, Department for Business and Trade, HM Treasury, Department for Work and Pensions and devolved governments) as necessary setting out a proposed workplan and inviting ministerial feedback and views.

3.3 Commissioning by ministers:

If ministers in sponsoring departments wish to commission LMEG for specific projects, these commissions must be shared and agreed by ministers from the core members (Home Office, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, Department for Business and Trade, HM Treasury). Devolved governments also need to be consulted.

Commissions must align with the purpose and objectives of the LMEG and be in line with the framework agreements of respective bodies.

Ministerial commissions will take priority over the existing LMEG workplan.

3.4 Chair and Secretariat structure:

The group will operate with a rotating chair, cycling every year between the core members. Staff from the organisation of the chair will act as a light-touch secretariat function, drafting an agenda for group agreement, taking minutes and noting action points.

4. Reporting and communications

LMEG outputs are primarily intended for internal government use. Where there is disagreement among members, outputs will reflect differing views and their rationale.

The LMEG outputs are expected to primarily inform the analysis, reports and recommendations of member bodies. Sharing of outputs with devolved government ministers will be co-ordinated by their LMEG representatives, with support from the core members where appropriate. Ownership of recommendations will remain with each member organisation (that is, the Migration Advisory Committee make recommendations on migration to the Home Secretary; Skills England makes recommendations on the skills system to Department for Education).

It is not expected that LMEG will write joint publications unless directly commissioned to do so. Evidence will be published within reports from each member body, agreed by the LMEG members and attributed appropriately to ensure visibility of the impact of the group.

Formal minutes from the LMEG will be posted online, along with a high-level description of the group’s purpose, membership and areas of work.

5. Review and amendments

This terms of reference document will be reviewed annually or as needed to reflect changes in membership or priorities.

Appendices

Annex A: Roles and responsibilities

LMEG members
- attend quarterly meetings and chair on a yearly rotating basis
- provide strategic direction and expert input
- review and sign off on the LMEG workplan, analytical approach and findings (or recommendations where applicable)
- highlight relevant work from their organisations that may benefit other members
Senior officials (SCS)
- ensure delivery of LMEG objectives and alignment with departmental priorities
- review meeting papers and co-ordinate cross-departmental resources
- support collaboration and ensure a fair balance of work across partners
- keep sponsoring departments aware of LMEG projects and support timely input where needed
Core team
- a virtual team of 2 to 3 officials per organisation, including analysts and policy leads
- drive the LMEG workplan, conduct research and analysis, and draft outputs
- act as liaison points within their organisations and with external stakeholders