The Intermediaries Legislation (IR35) and the Impact for Schools…a blog by Gary Williams

The first half-term break of 2017 is fast approaching. Our teams across Wales and the North of England will welcome the respite, as I am sure the whole of the education community will. Throughout January we have worked to develop our strategy for the year ahead of us, and of course much of this is informed by the changes and reform within the education sector itself.

One of the key outcomes of the 2016 Autumn Statement was the plan for reform Intermediaries Legislation (IR35) in April this year. I reviewed the statement with interest as I realised what this meant and the huge implications it could have for schools and colleges in the UK.

The hard and fast (and formal) line by the National Procurement Service (NPS) to its community is as follows:

Read the full statement here…

The 2016 Autumn Statement confirmed the UK Governments plans to reform Intermediaries Legislation (IR35) in April 2017. There are new measures being introduced to ensure those in direct receipt of public funds pay the correct level of tax and NIC’s, and this will have an impact on the hire of workers who operate through an intermediary, such as their own limited company (i.e. a Personal Service Company). This will place less responsibility on the worker to pay the correct levels of tax, and more responsibility on the engaging body (hiring agency and public sector employer).

In layman’s terms for the schools and colleges who use supply agencies – it is about asking pertinent questions of your supplier. Is your agency paying their supply staff via an umbrella company? If so, when April arrives then your local authority will be responsible for their National Insurance and Tax contributions…more cost for your supply needs.

New Directions Education does not use umbrella companies. When we employ a member of supply staff to work within your schools and colleges we become their employer, we hold liability and we take responsibility for the NI and tax calculations and contributions. Such is our commitment to creating a better supply process for tomorrow we have always led the way in this respect.

Of course the education community will always work to spend their hard-earned budgets wisely and look for best cost as well as high quality. As an award-winning organisation (I have to pop that in under instruction of our Communications and Marketing Team) we work hard to reflect the values of the schools and colleges we work with.

We have always been a family-centric business, we just sharpened up what we did to protect our community. We work in a consultative fashion, we employ Account Managers with heart and personality who culturally buy in to their schools and colleges…and it makes the difference.

We welcome any questions about the IR35 legislation, please direct them to my own email address [email protected] and I will work to help you understand the implications for your school or college.

Gary

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