It has been more than nine months since the Call for Evidence into the umbrella sector closed and Crawford Temple, CEO of Professional Passport, the UK’s largest independent assessor of payment intermediary compliance is pressing for the Government’s response, saying:

“It has been over nine months since the Government’s call for evidence into the challenges that the umbrella sector is facing closed.  Whilst I know that the Government has been faced with its own administration challenges with the comings and goings of new PMs, Chancellors and Ministers, it is simply not good enough and is no excuse for ignoring important and pressing issues that are having an impact on the lives and livelihoods of hard-working people.

“In an unregulated industry, the umbrella sector harbours models that are causing harm to people’s pockets.  These models purport to be genuine umbrellas but are tax avoidance and disguised remuneration schemes that are duping workers into signing up for them with the promise of more take-home pay.  A cost-of-living crisis is simply going to lead to a rise in the number of schemes and the number of workers entering into such schemes.

“The Government needs to tackle the dodgy schemes that are capitalising on people’s financial hardship as a matter of urgency. Enforcement is key. By targeting the architects of these schemes, the Treasury would see a fair return on the investment and save the country millions of pounds.  It makes perfect economic sense.

So, I would urge the Government to publish the results of its call for evidence without delay so that the industry as a whole can work collegiately and collaboratively with policymakers to find a way forward for the good of the sector and drive-up standards and drive out non-compliance.”