REC Invites New Employment Minister to Boost Recruiters and Contractors by Cutting Red Tape

Ed Davey has taken up the Energy and Climate Change ministership vacated by Chris Huhne, and that means that there is a new face in Mr Davey’s old job of Employment Minister – an occasion the REC intends to capitalise on to the benefit of recruiters and PAYE umbrella contractors.

Mr Huhne, of course, stepped down in a blaze of publicity after the CPS brought legal proceedings against him. Altogether less publicised has been the appointment of Norman Lamb to Edward Davey’s former role as Employment Minister.

The REC has argued trenchantly that the UK’s near-obsession with red tape has needlessly impeded the efficiency of the recruitment industry. Contractors working through umbrella companies and limited companies alike will be well aware that, if recruiters are forced to function at an elephantine pace because of excessive regulatory burdens, new placements and work opportunities can’t be secured efficiently.

Tom Hadley, the REC’s Director of Policy, said that he and the new employment minister would shortly be meeting. Hadley plans to highlight the vital role of the recruitment sector in the UK economy and to draw attention the need for an optimal regulatory landscape and compliance framework.

He believes reform is definitely needed, if the recruitment sector and the contractors it sources work for are to prosper. In particular, he hoped that the Department of Business would support reform in employment policy, pensions and taxation.

The Coalition’s Red Tape Challenge provides an “excellent opportunity” to share the industry’s views with government, Mr Hadley added. The proof of the pudding, of course, will lie in the new minister’s actions. We will be watching closely.