Direct Projects into Public Sector (Sort of)

[westtester]

Given that the MoD are already forcing all contractors inside IR35 (or out of the building altogether), I'd be interested to know how you can get around the new rules. We're told it applies "where the appointee is not engaged directly on departmental payrolls", which pretty much covers anyone who isn't a permie as far as I can tell.

[swamp]

Unless it's a way round the April 2017 public sector IR35 rules, I'm not sure what the point of this proposal is.

[Andy Hallett]

We are still reviewing our position around April 2017. As it stands it it looks like most contractors will be caught by IR35 and as an intermediary we'll have to make a PAYE deduction at source. I'd imagine the impact will be a swing back to the brollies and an exodus of professional contractors from the public sector based on the current proposals.

[m0n1k3r]

Without any explanation from Andy I wouldn't want to guess that.

It could equally well be due to the new DOS framework which is supposedly designed to allow specialists to bypass agencies... The weakness with that is that I believe proposals need to be written which is time consuming - and may let agencies in via the backdoor...

The DOS framework requires the supplier (e.g. the consultancy) to take responsibility for their specialists, teams, deliverables and outcomes, including warranty periods, something that an agency would never want to do. For that reason it is often not suitable for contractors who are just looking for a "job". In many cases the requirements also mean that work can't be subcontracted. The consultancies who are suppliers on the framework may occasionally use a recruiter to find contractors for opportunities there, but would usually just use their own staff or hire people on fixed term contracts. When the framework opened for applications, there was also a warning to recruiters that the DOS framework is probably not for them.