IPSE welcomes new Liberal Democrat leader and calls for better self-employed support
- 22 Jul 2019
IPSE (the Association of the Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) has welcomed Jo Swinson as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats and called on her to back a raft of measures to support the UK’s self-employed.
- Maternity pay for self-employed mothers: women freelancers who take maternity leave are only entitled to Maternity Allowance, and not the more generous Statutory Maternity Pay. We believe this is unfair and that self-employed mothers should have equal maternity pay.
- A modern tax system for the self-employed: the UK’s overly complex tax system needs clarifying and updating for the modern age and rising self-employment. We believe the damaging changes to IR35 in the private sector should be scrapped.
- Late payment: freelancers spend an average of 20 days per year chasing late payment and, in some sectors, lose an average of £5000 per year to clients who fail to pay. We believe the role of the Small Business Commissioner should be strengthened to stamp this out.
- Support disabled freelancers: disabled people are 1 in 7 of all freelancers but overlooked in the previous Prime Ministers disability action plan launched June 25th 2019 and in welfare reforms. We would like to see the New Enterprise Allowance mentoring and payments extended to two years to better support disabled entrepreneurs.
- Broadband infrastructure: entrepreneurism could be unleashed across the UK, from cities to rural villages, if they have access to consistent, superfast broadband. Currently, adequate coverage is limited to urban hubs. We recommend super-fast broadband service being available for all by 2025.
We look forward to working with Jo Swinson and the Liberal Democrat Party to make the UK a better place to be self-employed.
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