COMPLIANCE
What does a general election mean for payroll?
Mathew Akrigg ACIPP MAAT, CIPP policy and research officer, examines how the outlook for payroll may change after this July’s general election
B y the time you read this, the general election will be upon us, or have been and gone. But as I write this, we have just heard the news that the date is set for 4 July 2024, so what does this mean for payroll functions, payroll professionals and the government departments we deal with? Let’s dive into what has been happening over the last few weeks and how things might shape up in the future. Dissolving Parliament To kick things off, Rishi Sunak made his announcement of the election on 22 May, stating he would be dissolving Parliament on 30 May. Once the dissolution is complete, all sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) are no longer MPs and therefore government actions come to a halt. Members of the House of Lords retain their positions, but business will come to an end until a new government is appointed. This triggers a rush to get all remaining legislation making its way through Parliament to Royal Assent, else the legislation fails, as all business is dropped at the end of a government. One of the Bills we had been keeping an eye on is the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Bill (see https://ow.ly/ j6En50RYfCO), which has now received Royal Assent. Moving past this period, once Parliament is officially dissolved, we enter a pre-election period of sensitivity, previously known as ‘Purdah’. What this
means is that minsters, civil servants and local governments must adhere to rules governing how they can conduct in public.
ball (many assume payroll professionals do), there's a reasonable chance that we end up with a new government with different political ideologies. So, what is to happen to current projects underway once the incumbent government is no longer in charge of policy direction? Work is already underway on changes to the data HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collects in relation to real time information. Not only will some work be suspended during the period of sensitivity, but plans could be affected by the whims of future ministers or government. While HMRC isn't a ministerial department, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is, and so this also casts a shadow on the work currently underway on small pot pensions. This is another area in which we're seeing a lot of movement, but it’s not yet clear what sort of cross-party support the proposals have. Once we have a new government, it will need to be understood what's being taken forward, or, if not a priority of the new administration, what's to be scrapped. There's a lot of political turmoil ahead, whichever way the election pans out, and the legislation and policy surrounding payroll is likely to be affected in some way. Exactly to what extent is still to be seen and could take some time to pan out. We will be keeping a close eye on how things change and keeping you updated along the way. n
"The ideas and intentions of an
For the CIPP, this likely means a stop to the government forums and groups we sit on for two main reasons. Firstly, the forum representatives won't be able to share some information with us, for fear that something is said which could influence public opinion during the election period. Secondly, there are some areas being investigated by civil servants at the request of minsters. The ideas and intentions of an outgoing government may differ from that of an incoming one, so using resource to advance policy that may be scrapped soon isn't ideal. Implications for the future This brings us onto what's affected in the future. While I don’t have a crystal outgoing government may differ from that of an incoming one, so using resource to advance policy that may be scrapped soon isn't ideal"
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | July - August 2024 | Issue 102 20
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