Seb Maley, CEO of IR35 advisory firm Qdos, has praised RMT Secretary-General Mick Lynch for criticising the government’s handling of IR35 legislation and said it could put the UK’s energy transition at risk.
Following the announcement of planned industrial action among offshore workers in the North Sea, Lynch said that “imposing conditions such as IR35 on all offshore workers” was among the factors leading to walkouts.
The UK has committed £3.5 billion to transforming the UK into a science and technology superpower over the next decade. Qdos, however, has warned that this is “money down the drain” if the handling of IR35 is not addressed.
The government is planning to invest around £1 billion in supercomputing and AI research, along with £2.5 billion for its “Quantum Strategy”, designed to attract investment, high-growth businesses and quality jobs to the UK via quantum technologies.
Seb Maley commented: “Mick Lynch is right to press the point – the government’s attitude towards and handling of IR35 could easily threaten the energy transition. The same goes for the UK’s aim to become a science and technology superpower.”
“The IR35 legislation remains fundamentally flawed. IR35 reform has resulted in genuinely self-employed contractors being forced into zero rights employment, while HMRC’s very own tool for assessing IR35 status is hopeless. What’s more, HMRC double-taxes IR35, which means businesses are overtaxed if they are found to be non-compliant.”
Maley added: “If organisations, including government departments, aren’t in a position to manage these rules properly – something which would be made easier if the legislation was actually fit for purpose – they lose access to highly-skilled, flexible workers, who hold the key to delivering key projects.”
