The self-employed sector is stalling. Here's what the Government must do.
IPSE's policy discussion paper, published ahead of Party Conference Season 2026, sets out the case for reform across four critical areas: labour market barriers, tax complexity, financial security, and security clearance.
4.4 million self-employed people contribute £331 billion to the UK economy each year, yet the policy environment continues to work against them. IR35 reforms have left one in ten contractors out of work. Making Tax Digital threatens to burden sole traders on modest incomes with disproportionate compliance costs. And self-employed parents remain locked out of the parental support that employed workers take for granted.
The paper calls on the Government to reverse the 2017 and 2021 IR35 reforms, introduce a legal definition of self-employment, raise the Making Tax Digital income threshold to £30,000, equalise Maternity Allowance with Statutory Maternity Pay, introduce a Paternity Allowance for self-employed fathers, and make the IPSE and Cabinet Office security clearance code of practice mandatory.
Download the paper to understand the scale of the challenge and the specific policy changes that would unlock what IPSE calls the Courage Economy.
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