Members of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) have taken their time to feed their thoughts into the trade body’s official response to HMRC’s latest consultation on the implementation of the IR35 off-payroll rules for the private sector.

At three special working groups held in Manchester, London and another which was tailored for the trade body’s group of largest members, more than 87 APSCo members made their feelings clear about the controversial rules.

The Association also received written feedback from a further 51 members and spoke with many people in the industry at members’ meetings and forums during the consultation period.

During these events, members flagged up common concerns, including:

• Where liability sits in the supply chain
• When and how status determination should be made
• Communications to recruitment firms and workers
• The likely increase in demand for fixed-term project/statement of work services
• How recruitment firms can best prepare for the roll-out

Tania Bowers, General Counsel at APSCo, said: “APSCo members certainly stepped up to the plate in terms of engaging with the consultation.

“While the professional recruitment community generally maintains that extending public sector rules to the private sector is still not a preferred option and remain concerned about the industry and it’s client base being ready for next April, through engaging with the consultation process, we can at least influence how these changes are implemented.

“We hope that HMRC has the good sense to consider, and take heed of, the concerns and advice offered by those who know what’s happening on the ground. We look forward to seeing how our insight will shape the draft legislation which is expected to be published at the end of next month.”