The budget is always an interesting time for the recruitment sector, we cover the autumn budget and what it means for the industry with some help from our partners at Brookson One.22nd November is the date when Chancellor Phillip Hammond is presenting his Autumn Budget. It’s certainly a turbulent time for English politics with Brexit talk fully underway and the looming threat of a second recession next year.
What’s even more important for us in recruitment is what the November Budget means for our industry, recruitment. With interesting revelations like IR35 and Tax avoidance making the headlines (and getting contract recruiters worried) this year.
TRN Partner Brookson One, specialists in accountancy and umbrella solutions for the recruitment industry, have happily given us their insightsinto what the budget means for The Recruitment Industry and where we should go from here.
What Brookson say:
The most important announcement impacting the professional contracting sector in today’s Autumn Budget, was not specifically referenced by The Chancellor in his speech but was buried in the details published following the speech. There are two very relevant announcements:
Off-payroll working in the private sector – the Government has committed to “carefully consult” on how to tackle non-compliance with IR35 in the private sector. The Government has already commissioned external research which is due to be published at a date yet to be confirmed in 2018. Whether this will transpire to be a public consultation and result in subsequent changes to legislation is yet to be seen, however, we would hope that a full consultation, including all stakeholders, is undertaken.
“Backing skills is key to unlocking growth nationally” says Chancellor @PhilipHammondUK#AutumnBudget2017 #Budget17#Contractors #freelancers
— Brookson (@AskBrookson) 22 November 2017
Employment status discussion paper – in addition to the above, the Government will also publish a discussion paper as part of its response to Matthew Taylor’s review of employment practices “exploring the case and options for longer-term reform to make the employment status tests for both employment rights and tax clearer”. This feels like a longer-term strategy compared to the review of IR35 in the private sector, which causes a degree of concern that we may be facing multiple changes over the medium term. Commenting on today’s announcements, Martin Hesketh, CEO of Brookson Group added:
“We are pleased that the Government don’t appear to be planning on proceeding with any changes in the short term and seem to have listened to stakeholders’ concerns that a similar change to that seen in the Public Sector could result in significant damage to the flexible labour market, and ultimately the goal to achieve a dynamic and innovative UK economy.”
“Today’s announcement will result in a period of uncertainty and we urge the Government to provide further clarity on timescales and the consultation process; that said, genuinely self-employed contractors should not panic and end hirers and agencies should not make knee jerk reactions.”
“We would expect the Government to undertake a public consultation which we will be involved in and we will continue to lobby to ensure that the outcome remains supportive of genuinely self-employed, highly productive contractors.”
“Those businesses who engage in the expected consultation process and plan adequately for the changes, stand to benefit significantly from any changes, whilst those who fail to plan effectively could face serious commercial implications.”
Brookson will be hosting a FREE webinar tomorrow discussing the outcomes of today’s Autumn Budget 2017 and explaining what this means for the flexible labour market. You can register for this free webinar here.
What the REC say.
The REC have also been quick off the mark to produce an full article covering many aspects of the budget - You can see a link here:
See some of their live tweets throughout Phillip Hammond's speech, their commentary provides some quick insights into what you can expect.
This government will continue its relentless focus to get people into work” says Chancellor #Budget2017 — REC Press Office (@RECPress) 22 November 2017
Investment of over £500m into new technology such as AI #Budget2017#FutureOfJobs
— REC Press Office (@RECPress) 22 November 2017
If govt want to put driverless cars and trucks on the road then we need to ensure we have the skilled workforce to deliver it #Budget2017 #FutureOfJobs— REC Press Office (@RECPress) 22 November 2017
Increased apprenticeships needs to be combined with an expansion of the apprenticeship levy into a broader training levy, so more workers can benefit #Budget2017
— REC Press Office (@RECPress) 22 November 2017
Launch of a historic partnership between CBI and TUC of £30m digital skills distance learning courses – this very welcome #Budget2017 — REC Press Office (@RECPress) 22 November 2017
From April 2018 the #NationalLivingWage will rise to £7.83 per hour #Budget2017
— REC Press Office (@RECPress) 22 November 2017
Very welcome announcement that VAT threshold will not be lowered – this would have been bad for self-employed and small businesses #Budget2017 — REC Press Office (@RECPress) 22 November 2017
