HOT TOPIC
The CIPP’s policy and research team provides insights into their many varied roles and responsibilities throughout the year, and discusses how you can get involved in the work carried out T he CIPP’s policy team pops up in many different places. You may see us at key times in the year, such From January to March, we deliver the BeConnected series of events, which is a chance for our members to get together and network. Here we present a payroll
market – strengthening the regulatory framework and improving registration l Fit note reform: call for evidence l Low Pay Commission consultation 2024. Each of these touches on part of the payroll function – some in more pronounced ways than others – but it’s key that we interact with them and get your voices heard. We often create surveys or hold think tanks and roundtables to gauge your thoughts and opinions on matters raised by government, so always keep an eye out for ways to engage with us and allow us to represent you in the best way possible. Forums Alongside formal consultations, forums are a key way in which we speak with government representatives and stakeholders to influence and discuss policy changes and issues. There are a number of different forums we attend on different topics to target key areas in which policy and legislation touch the payroll process. These meetings are by invitation only and are attended by many different representative bodies, such as the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT), the Business Application Software Developers Association (BASDA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and many other acronyms you may or may not have heard of. What they allow us to do is have open and honest discussions about shared problems, plan possible solutions and hold government organisations to account for their policy promises and future plans. For us to get the most out of these sessions, we need you. The policy team is no longer working at the forefront of payroll operations, and so we need you to tell us how policy and changes are impacting your day-to-day. Keep in touch with us and make sure we can represent you as best as we can. Presentations While we may be buried in legislation, draft documents and government guidance for a lot of the year, every now and again we’re let out into the sunlight to present on hot topics in the payroll world.
as at the CIPP’s Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE) or when there’s a budget announcement, but what are we doing for the rest of the year? News and magazine articles Let’s start with our bread and butter, the CIPP news page. For the policy team to engage in all the wonderful things that impact payroll professionals, we must first understand what is going on in the payroll world. Keeping on top of the latest news and reporting it to our members is paramount. Every day we’re on the hunt for new announcements, reports, consultations, breaking news, issues and topics of note. All this is to keep our members and the wider payroll community up to date and operating with the latest information. This is then packaged up in a way that’s easy to review and digest in the form of our weekly online newsletter, which is sent to members at noon every Wednesday. We know you don’t have time to scour the internet for all these bits of information, so let us do that for you! In addition, we’re also asked to write longer form articles for this very magazine, as well as some external publications. This allows us to explore complex topics in more detail, helping to educate the profession and promote the CIPP in a wider industry context. Consultations and calls for evidence Arguably the cornerstone of how institutes such as the CIPP can interact with government (and other organisations) is to push for positive change in laws, legislation and policy direction. Consultations allow us to lobby for improvements which will reduce the administrative burden on payroll professionals, improve services from organisations such as HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and raise important concerns with proposed plans. As we write, the policy team is currently working on the following consultations: l Improving the data HMRC collects from its customers (draft legislation) l Freeport and investment zone employer National Insurance contributions reliefs l Raising standards in the tax advice
legislative update, sharing all the key changes from the start of the tax year – that is, unless the government keeps changing things up until the last minute (which it does). Later in the year we host some of the BeKnowledgeable series of webinars, covering a wide range of hot topics for payrollers. In addition, we also make sure to network with others in the payroll industry, delivering presentations and appearing on webinars hosted by other organisations. Keep an eye out for us as we can pop up anywhere. Of course, let’s not forget our ACE, which is a fantastic opportunity to see a lot of key people in the industry, but involves delivering a nerve-racking presentation. Last year, there were about 400 people in attendance! Surveys and reports The last area we want to touch on is our surveys. You may have recently seen the report from our annual Payslip Statistics Survey . This piece of research is conducted to see what payroll professionals are doing through a key communication tool between an organisation and its employees, the payslip. If you haven’t yet looked, go and check it out here: https://ow.ly/ gQPE50RQKes. We’re also responsible for the Benchmarking Survey , next due out in 2025, which looks at the wider remit of payroll and allows you to see how your teams stack up against other payroll and human resources departments. This survey is currently being reviewed and improved for next year, so make sure you look out for it and get involved; the more responses we get, the more useful the resulting report will be to you. Hopefully this gives you a better insight into what the policy team does, but more importantly what the policy team can do for you. We‘ll always be looking out for the payroll industry, to try and shape policy in a way which assists us to achieve our end goals compliantly and fairly. Keep us abreast of the practicalities of the legislative landscape and we will do our best to represent you and your interests. n
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 102 | July - August 2024
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