Contractors, and the rest of the UK’s highly skilled knowledge-based flexible workforce, are ready to make Brexit work. But this will only happen if the organs of Government currently demonising them – HMRC and the Treasury – back off, and there is a credible plan created by policymakers to implement.
The UK is good at rolling up its sleeves and getting on with things. Despite the stereotypes, and our national pastime of whinging, we enjoy a huge ‘can do’ attitude. Contingent workers are one of the best examples of this – contractors hit the ground running, identify the challenge and just get on with solving it.
This will be of huge benefit to the country as we work through Brexit challenges. But there are two conditions.
Firstly, no more regulations targeting the contracting sector. The proposed public sector IR35 changes must be scrapped and HMRC and the Treasury should focus on making us stronger outside of the European Union (EU), not inventing exciting new ways to extract cash from the economy’s engine room
Second, politicians and policymakers need to create a credible framework to make Brexit work and fast. This includes all the business leaders who promised a land of milk and honey if the UK left the EU – they should be held accountable and naturally we expect none of their investment and hiring plans to be put on hold as a result of Brexit uncertainty.
In time, on the regulatory front, we need to go a step further and examine those EU-inspired regulations in place. As part of doing this we need to remember that many EU laws have been ‘gold plated’ by UK governments – we’re not about to return to Victorian employment practices any time soon and employees will continue to enjoy high levels of protection. But for example, the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) is a classic case of gold plating where the government of the day actually added more to what came from the EU.
Furthermore, many of the draconian tax laws that target contractors are completely home grown. If the UK is considering a root and branch review of legislation, then the most destructive tax policies, such as IR35 and the travel and subsistence changes recently introduced, must be re-examined.
None of this will work until we have a plan. That plan won’t reduce the uncertainty and make the issues surrounding Brexit go away, but it would be a start. But we need leadership, and that must come from both the public sector and business.
Calling a moratorium on new legislation alongside creating a credible framework for next steps is just the start of making Brexit work. But what it will do is unleash the UK’s contracting sector and let it do what it does best – identify challenges, create solutions and implement them.