The Liberal Democrats have published a new policy paper on the quality of life of the British public which argues that well-being or quality of life should be a more central aim of public policy and that company directors who fail to protect employee well-being should be disqualified.

The paper, entitled A New Purpose for Politics: Quality of Life, was unveiled at the recent Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference and aims to make promoting quality of life an integral part of public policy making. It outlines Liberal Democrat policies to achieve a good quality of life, centred on enabling and supporting people to take their own decisions about their lives.

The paper says it is “anomalous” that people can be disqualified from being a company director for reasons of financial impropriety, but not for even very serious cases of failing to protect their employees’ well-being. It suggests that the current rules for disqualification of directors in cases of financial misconduct should be extended, for example, to include serious breaches of legal duties to staff as an employer.

The policy paper also suggests the creation of a National Institute for Well-being to collate evidence and promote best practice in increasing quality of life, as well as supporting the extension of flexible working rights.

The Lib Dems acknowledge that, “Many employers are already actively concerned to maximise their employees’ well-being,” but the paper seeks to “extend this to more workplaces, especially to the lowest-paid”.

Introducing the paper, Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire, said, “We all recognise that our quality of life matters but large-scale studies show that levels of reported life satisfaction in the UK have been roughly static for decades.”

Article source: British Safety Council.