CBI responds to HMRC Employment Intermediaries: Temporary Workers – Relief for Travel and Subsistence Expenses

02/24/2015 - 10:24

The CBI (Confederation of British Business) who lobby on behalf of British businesses have responded to the HMRC discussion on Employment Intermediaries: Temporary Workers – Relief for Travel and Subsistence Expenses.

The CBI represents 190,000 businesses that account for over one third of the UK’s private sector workforce.

In their response they confirmed: “We have reviewed the response prepared by a syndicate of employment intermediaries, representing 36 of the largest umbrella businesses in the UK. The syndicate response provides a detailed analysis in respect of the proposals and the CBI supports the conclusions reached in that paper. Consequently we have kept the CBI response to a minimum to avoid duplication”.

Our summary of the Syndicate of Employment Intermediaries response (of which we were a member) is available at:

http://www.umbrella.co.uk/industry-news/2015/02/full-report-employment-intermediaries-syndicate-response-hmrc-review-travel

It is without doubt a positive outcome that this response has received the support of an organisation such as the CBI.

The CBI response goes on to say that:

“Our members are unequivocal that the UK’s flexible labour market is an asset that must be protected. Flexible employment arrangements are vital to the competitiveness of the UK labour market and the prospects for business investment and job creation. Flexibility has helped the UK labour market prove remarkably resilient, and enabled employers and employees to work together to keep people in work in the aftermath of the 2008-09 economic crash.

Retaining this flexibility, and the job creation it supports, must be prioritised. As the syndicate response points out, the contribution to the economy by the umbrella sector is £10bn- £11.5bn. In fact, our most recent Employment Trends Survey results show that almost all businesses (95%) see the flexible labour market as either vital or important to business investment and job creation. Further investigation is required into the impact of any legislation as any changes brought in must ensure that this sector of the workforce is not disrupted. Should HMRC retain the view that intervention is necessary, the syndicate offer a number of better and easier to implement alternatives which build on existing selfregulation and will lead to increased compliance”.