IPSE’s campaigning efforts won’t be overshadowed by recent events in Westminster

They say a week is a long time in politics and this past week has proved to be particularly true. Boris Johnson’s resignation on Thursday capped off an unprecedented week in British political history.

But for self-employed businesses, already grappling with rising costs, the never-ending threat of retrospective HMRC investigations and government tax policy limiting how they can operate, the past week has brought about more questions than answers.

We’re yet to hear how government plans to resolve the question of employment status or how it plans to regulate the umbrella company market, with this lack of clarification causing no end of challenges to contractors, the judicial system and clients alike. We’re yet to hear what legislation will be brought forward at the Autumn Budget or whether a long-awaited employment bill is in the offering, five years after Mathew Taylor set out his recommendations.

Recent comings and goings in Westminster will not deter our campaigning efforts. We have already written to the newly appointed Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, raising the pressing issues facing those that work for themselves and calling for an immediate increase in mileage allowance.

We will continue to work closely with the Future of Work review, highlighting the case for clarification over employment status and raising the issue of late payment and a lack of training and skills investment that continues to challenge the sector. As part of our efforts to tackle late payment, IPSE will be launching our Payment Practices Index later this month, allowing you to review the payment practices of your clients whilst naming and shaming the 20 worst companies.

Through our research, our media work, our appearances before select committees and in our discussions with MPs and Ministers, we will press for a full review into the impact of IR35 in the private sector, working with Committee Chairs within Parliament to continue vital scrutiny into the devastating reforms introduced in April 2021.

We have also been raising the issue of Managed Service Company (MSC) legislation with government officials and we will use our seat on the Employment Status and Intermediaries Forum (previously called the ‘IR35 Forum’) to highlight how businesses attempting to be tax compliant are now being penalised by HMRC.

At a time when our research shows that more and more self-employed individuals are requiring access to Universal Credit, our campaigning efforts will also focus on the deeply unfair Minimum Income Floor that continues to discriminate against the self-employed.

Once a new leader has been elected and a new cabinet has been appointed, we will begin the process of writing to the relevant Ministers. We also plan to be involved in discussions with candidates engaged in leadership campaigns whilst continuing our work with officials that are continuing to run the country on a temporary basis.

A temporary government or not, we will continue to champion and fight on behalf of those that work for themselves.