Issue 8; 14 May 1999

Campaign | Submission | Challenge

It has been a busy week and many thanks to all of you who have joined in the last week. What started as a laudable aim by the Government to close the 'Friday-to-Monday' loophole has the possibility of affecting many legitimate businesses which goes beyond the Chancellor's original stated intention and could have a great impact on the contractual industry in particular and the economy in general.

The campaign team has been formed and is headed up of David Ramsden; who ran the most successful campaign of recent times -the reform of Sunday Trading- he is supported by Susie Hughes who works in association with Saatchi and Saatchi, and was a Government Information Officer. The team has retained the services of a leading law firm, Bond Pearce to oversee the establishment and financial side of the Campaign. They also will provide key advice for the benefit of Members with regards to Tax, Corporate and Employment Law issues. Offices have been secured and a full time member of staff recruited. We have now agreed a name for the Campaign - the Professional Contractors' Group (PCG) and the Inland Revenue have confirmed that we are invited to attend meetings with them on the 10th June.
The campaign team met with the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) and Forum 35 on 11th May for a working party with regards to IR 35 and agreed to co-operate.

We have prepared our submission, which is must be submitted to the Revenue by the 21st May and the draft is now posted to the members which is available on http://www.ir35update.co.uk/background.html

An Internet Voting Form is provided for Members to agree with the draft and most importantly add comments to illustrate their personal situation. This will form an appendix to the submission and is particularly important in illustrating how this measure will affect individuals and their companies.

Having secured the Campaign we now face the challenge of ensuring we sit at the negotiating table with the maximum level of support. Our submission paper estimates the impact of these proposals assuming 100,000 Contractors are effected. Whilst it would be unrealistic to imagine that number joining it will be important that we secure a significant proportion and can then speak with the necessary authority. I believe the campaign team now working on your behalf is the equal of the largest Company and those of you who have not yet joined must now decide whether you wish to fully support these efforts and join the group. To achieve the most impact you should do this before the 10th of June.

Kind regards,

Andy White
Make a difference, join the Campaign: https://www.pcgroup.org.uk