Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HC Deb 19 May 2020, cc543, if he will publish the outcomes of the research into the long-term effects of the 2017 IR35 reform on the public sector; and what parameters of the monitoring and research will be undertaken on the effect of the IR35 changes due to take effect in the private and voluntary sectors from April 2021.

The Government will publish two research reports on the long-term effects of the 2017 off-payroll (IR35) reform this spring. One will set out findings from education sector client organisations and the other, findings from employment agencies.

The report into findings from client organisations will focus on the education sector only because the pressures created by the pandemic have meant that the research agency has not been able to contact a sufficient number of public health and other public sector organisations to produce robust findings ahead of April 2021.

The Government intends to resume this research later in the spring, with a view to publishing full findings from all public sector organisations later this year.

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury has recently written to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee and the Treasury Select Committee, and HMRC have updated all MPs via their MP digest, on the status of this research.

The Government intends to commission external research into the short-term effects of the 2021 reform on the private and voluntary sectors later this year. HMRC are currently scoping the parameters for this research and intend to publish the findings next year.