APSCo responds to Spring Statement

Following Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Spring Statement, which focused heavily on a commitment to skills development, Samantha Hurley, Director of Operations at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), comments:

“Yesterday’s speech conveyed a clear realisation that the strength of the UK economy is directly related to the talent agenda – and we support proposed measures to develop the skills we need to thrive amid a rapidly advancing economy.

“We welcome the publication of a consultation on how the tax system supports self-funded, work-related training and the explicit recognition that a skilled workforce benefits both individuals and the wider UK economy. Greater support for individuals who want to upskill or retrain can only be good news for the professional recruitment sector, particularly at a time when an increasing number of professionals are choosing to work on a contract basis, without the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) support that is usually associated with permanent employment.”

“Elsewhere, the creation of a National Retraining Partnership - and the fact that £80 million of funding has been pledged to support small businesses in engaging an apprentice, with a further £500 million a year being directed towards the introduction of T-Levels - suggests that the government is serious about pipelining skills for future prosperity.”

“We also welcome the government’s commitment to work with the Office for National Statistics to create a more sophisticated measure of human capital so that future investment in skills development can be better targeted. I have no doubt that through calculating the economic pay-back from investing in people, the Treasury will see huge economic benefits.”

“Overall, we’re pleased to see that the government is committed to backing the enterprise and ambition of British business, and investing in the talent that will create further opportunity.”

“While the Written Ministerial Statement did confirm that a consultation on off-payroll working in the private sector will be launched ‘in the coming months’, there are still no firm timelines attached to this. APSCo maintains that a move to extend recent legislative changes to the private sector at this time is ill-conceived, and we will be sharing this view, and the evidence behind our position, when the opportunity does present itself.”

- Ends

Carly Smith

BlueSky PR

Carly@bluesky-pr.com

T: +44 (0)1582 790 708