UK – APSCo outlines Budget and Spending Review recommendations

01 October 2021

The Association of Professional Staffing Companies has outlined its main asks of the upcoming Autumn Budget and Spending Review to help the labour market build back better.

The Autumn Budget is set to take place on 27 October 2021.

In its submission to HM Treasury, APSCo detailed the support that is needed to create a ‘dynamic, modern and flexible’ labour market with enough skilled workers to help the country bounce back from the pandemic and boost the labour market in a cyclical fashion.

APSCo’s recommendations include:

• Continued funding for virtual Right to Work checks to promote opportunity across the country
• Investment in a ‘highly skilled’ workforce through visas for independent contractors
• Levelling up through investment in supporting start-ups, broadening the use of Apprenticeship Levy funds and a regional focus on skills
• Adequate funding for the introduction of a Single Enforcement Body

APSCo maintains that the Single Enforcement Body should be tasked with driving better and more consistent collaboration with HMRC to push forward more active, visible enforcement of umbrella companies, being mindful and paying particular attention to the introduction of Off-Payroll.

Tania Bowers, Legal Counsel and Head of Public Policy at APSCo, said, “We’ve faced more challenges in the last two years than we have in the last fifty years, with Covid-19, the UK’s exit of the EU and the roll out of Off-Payroll just a few examples of the events that have placed pressure on the staffing sector. As a country we must understand the fiscal and societal changes we need to make to be able to build back better and protect those financially affected by the impacts the Covid-19 virus has had on the country. To support policymakers and funding decisions, we believe the above recommendations will assist the country in building back better, by promoting opportunity across the country within the labour market to help tackle inequality and skills shortages, in turn helping to level up the country. We hope that the Treasury considers these in the upcoming Budget and Spending Review.”