Not a stock response ?
I've been corresponding with my MP on IR35. After a recent exchange, my MP suggested that he forward my concerns to the Treasury, and I agreed. I've now been forwarded a response.
This response lays out the Treasury’s public position on IR35 private sector reform. To my mind, it clearly confirms that unless the external reviews of the public sector changes are truly positive, there will not be a case for any extension of IR35 reform, and indeed, perhaps changes will be needed to the rules in that sector.
Now some of you will suggest that it would be naive to expect that any external reviews wouldn’t be positive. You might have a point. But it is therefore more important than ever that you pass on any relevant information to the likes of the FCSA, ipse and Contractor Calculator who are gathering stories of what went wrong in the public sector roll-out last April. If these stories are not gathered now, their usefulness will fade.
In the original letter I wrote, I raised concerns about the impact of rolling out imperfect reforms for the private sector at the same time as Brexit is due to crystallise. This point wasn’t specifically responded too, but I think it’s important. Government is rightly focussed on productivity, and the UK being an attractive place to do business. It’s hard to imagine a worse time to make changes to this system, without having a successful experience in the public sector to justify action.
If you have a story – if you experienced or saw the problems that the public sector roll-out caused, please use it – submit it to one of the bodies above and tell your MP too.
It might not make a difference. But if you don’t try....
Chris James is an IPSE accredited, award-winning Chartered Accountant. He is Head of Accounting Services at JSA Group, which provides accounting, payroll, umbrella and business advisory services to small businesses, contractors and freelancers across the UK. He also serves on the Board of the FCSA.
This is a stock response by Mr Stride, using some of the stock paragraphs we have seen before. Very surprised to see him still claiming there have been no contractor walkouts, or project delays. I chatted to a contractor the other day who told me all 25 contractors left on the Friday before reforms went live, and the project was cancelled, because none of them would accept an inside IR35 position, and rates would not be increased. I've spoken to contractors who had rate rises, changed decisions after threats of leaving, and so on. If this same stance comes out in the report then the firm who writes it will be guilty of deceit, and we will all know it's nothing short of a smokescreen to fit their agenda.