“All the signs are that she’s falling back on the failed policies of tax cuts and deregulation,” said Dr George Dibb, head of the IPPR’s Centre for Economic Justice.

“Over a decade of cuts to corporation tax have failed on their own promise to boost investment. Any cuts to income tax right now will likely be offset by the Bank of England raising interest rates even further,” Dibb went on to say.

At the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, the new PM received congratulations from CEO Neil Carberry, who went on to say: “We are keen to work with her and the new ministerial team on strengthening the labour market and overcoming labour and skills shortages. We welcome [her] focus on reducing [National Insurance] and on reviewing the application of IR35 as it doesn’t work and we need legislation that supports flexible working.

“As well as reducing ambiguity over tax status for businesses we hope to work with the new government on skills and immigration policies that support economic growth and boost productivity. A quick win on both would be to reform the Apprenticeship Levy to make it accessible to many more people including temporary workers.

“We will be sharing our ‘Manifesto for Growth’ document with the government shortly, which sets out our policy ideas in detail.”

Following the announcement that Truss had won the Conservative leadership race, the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) called on the new PM to address three priorities to support the UK’s economy to balance the impact of the pandemic, Brexit and the roll-out of the Off-Payroll Working Rules:

1. Introduce the Employment Bill
2. Create a truly ‘global Britain’: As the government negotiates global trade deals, APSCo has recommended that these discussions focus on skills, the workforce and the mutual recognition of services and professional qualifications as well as tariffs and goods. The simplification of the process by which self-employed contractors obtain visas is also needed in a skill-short economy
3. Tackle skills shortages: The trade association has called for the development of a national strategy, recognising urban hubs and regions with existing strengths in particular skills and industries.

Tania Bowers, global public policy director at APSCo commented: “The country has experienced change on a huge scale in the last few years as a combination of Brexit, IR35 and the pandemic changed the world of work as we knew it, with the impact of continued global economic uncertainty and rising inflation adding to this difficult climate. The Tory leadership challenge only exacerbated these issues and we hope that today’s announcement will provide some much-needed stability.”

“We welcomed the reports that Ms Truss intends to review IR35 legislation – a move which we feel is needed in light of challenges to the temporary recruitment market – but this needs to be supplemented with more definitive actions to create a future-fit dynamic labour market.”

Bowers went on to say: “We are calling on the government to introduce an Employment Bill, which will better reflect modern day working post-pandemic than current legislation, [and] more suitable high-skilled visas that can allow the UK labour market to remain agile and alive to specific sector labour shortages. Flexible and pragmatic training initiatives designed to maximise businesses’ access to talent across the workforce is also essential. In acting on these policy items, the UK will continue to be a world leader in new and existing markets.”

Recruiter Alex Dick, CEO of Alexander Lyons Solutions, offered his comments on Truss’s election. “A major positive,” Dick said, “will be her pledge to review IR35 legislation, which has decimated the livelihoods of many contractors and specialist temping recruiters. Flexible workers will be concerned to hear that she’s no longer a supporter of WFH [working from home] and is reportedly considering revoking the 48-hour working week. While this is not good news for workers’ rights or their mental health, any such changes will result in an influx of new candidates to the market which should please recruiters.”

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