We noticed with interest that the REC’s Director of Policy Tom Hadley is due to met with new Employment Minister Norman Lamb in the near future, when he plans to address the issue of the UK’s ‘near-obsession with red tape’ that negatively impacts umbrella contractors.

With previous Employment Minister Ed Davey taking up Chris Huhne’s recently-vacated role as Energy and Climate Change minister, Norman Lamb steps into the employment fray - and Tom Hadley will be quick to make his views known, capitalising on the opportunity to benefit both recruiters and umbrella contractors.

The REC has always argued that the UK’s ‘obsession’ with red tape has unnecessarily obstructed the efficiency of the recruitment industry. Umbrella contractors are already well aware that if recruiters are forced to operate at an ‘elephantine pace’ because of these excessive regulations, new contracts cannot be secured as efficiently. Tom aims to  ‘highlight the vital role of the recruitment sector in the UK economy and to draw attention the need for an optimal regulatory landscape and compliance framework’. He believes that, if recruitment companies and the contractors they support are to prosper, reform is definitely needed!