Change of circumstance and IR35

[NomDePlum]

The agency/company that I am currently contracting through (to the end client) is in the process of agreeing a deal with the client to provide IT support/development as a managed service to the client.

They have asked if I want to go permie (with them) and I have said no. They have also offered to extend my contract 1/2 years in order to provide 'business continuity' to the client.

As part of the move to a 'managed development service' they are reviewing the development lifecycle and introducing new processes. As part of this (and as a sweetner for the contract) they have said they will put myself through training in these new development processes. I have raised a concern that this might affect my IR35 status and wanted to opinions on:

1. if the general change of circumstances affects my IR35 status
2. if accepting training from them would affect my IR35 status

I have already raised concern around about point 2 and said that if it affects my IR35 status I would fund the training myself (through my limited company).

Doe anyone have an opinion on this?

[XLMonkey]

1) yes, potentially. depends on exactly what the changes are in the agents contract. You would need to see this contract and get some advice on its implications to assess whether your IR35 status is affected.
2) yes, certainly. provision of training by the client is a strong indicator that the relationship with you is one of employment, rather than service provision.

[VectraMan]

At the very least don't charge for the time you're being trained, but really you should be paying for the training.