Government plan to end the public sector pay cap 6 September 2017
Plans are being drawn up to end the seven-year cap on public sector pay for some state employees, such as nurses and newly qualified teachers, according to a report by the Financial Times .
To immediately end the cap for all 5m state workers would cost about £4bn a year, a heavy price tag at a time of continued government austerity. As a result, a final announcement of changes to public sector pay, expected when Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, sends guidance letters to pay review bodies this month, is likely to stop short of a sudden scrapping of the existing cap, and may only apply to some workers in some sectors.
Independent pay review bodies, which advise the government on public sector salaries, have reported increasing problems with recruitment and retention, especially for the NHS and schoolteachers, in recent years.
Scotland’s First Minister has confirmed that the 1% cap on public sector pay rises in Scotland will be scrapped next year, says BBC News . Nicola Sturgeon reportedly told the Scottish Parliament that nurses, teachers, police officers and firefighters deserve a fairer deal for the future. She said: "We will, therefore, aim to secure pay rises from next year that are affordable, but which also reflect the real- life circumstances our public servants face and the contribution our public services make to the overall prosperity of our country."
Read the full reports from Financial Times and BBC News .
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Confusion over exemption from online payroll reporting 5 September 2017
The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) has highlighted that guidance on GOV.UK around the availability of a payroll online filing exemption, may be misleading some people into believing that their circumstances are not covered.
If you fall within a limited number of categories, you can still use paper to send information to HMRC. The following groups may be able to send paper forms: Someone who takes on a PA, called a care and support employer by HMRC Those who are exempt from online filing on religious grounds Those who are considered by HMRC to be unable to file online (often called the ‘digitally excluded')
LITRG explain about each of these exemptions in more detail on their website .
It was originally intended that the last category of exemption, the ‘digitally excluded’ would only be available until April 2017.
According to LITRG’s article they wrote to HMRC and expressed concern that this would potentially disadvantage vulnerable employers, not to mention be against their Human Rights – see Bishop & Others v HMRC Commissioners [2013] 522 UKFTT. In response HMRC indicated to LITRG that they had no plans to withdraw the category of exemption as from April 2017, however the GOV.UK guidance on the exemptions, is still referring to an April 2017 end date which may be leading people to incorrectly believe that they cannot make use of paper filing.
LITRG has flagged the inconsistent information to both HMRC and GOV.UK and hope that the date will be removed as soon as possible.
Read the full article from LITRG
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The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
cipp.org.uk
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