Author: Sophie Lewis

Spring Budget 2023

On Wednesday 15th March 2023, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the details of the Spring Budget, with a focus on getting people back into work and boosting the economy.

Government urged to focus on more age groups to boost labour market

CIPD: ‘As our analysis shows, it’s important that the current focus on addressing the decline of over-50s in employment doesn’t obscure the need and opportunity to get more young people into work’.

UK firms urged to be more open to hiring older workers

Robert Half: ‘The current hiring, training and talent management landscape isn’t geared towards older demographics’.

VAT registered firms reminded to file and pay on time

HMRC: ‘We are contacting 2.5 million VAT registered businesses about the changes and will continue to support customers to help them manage their tax affairs and payments’.

HMRC urged to review repayment interest rates

CIOT: ‘The differential between the rate of interest charged by HMRC on late payments, as compared to the interest it pays on overpayments or refunds, is simply inequitable, particularly at times when many businesses and individuals continue to suffer long delays in receiving repayments from HMRC’.

Firms with slow hiring processes exacerbating recruitment challenges

Sterling: ‘Employers continue to report difficulties with recruiting the right people. But our data suggests that this issue is being exacerbated by lengthy and complex hiring processes’.

More needs to be done on apprenticeship reform

REC: ‘We hope this announcement today is not the finished article on reform of the Apprenticeship system and in particular the Apprenticeship Levy. Today’s announcement does nothing to help temporary workers which are such a crucial part of the UK jobs market’.