AAT public affairs and public policy activities: June 2018

Every month AAT highlights some of the key public affairs and public policy activities undertaken on behalf of our 140,000 members.

Below you will find some key highlights for June 2018. 

If you would like any further information about any of these issues, please contact Phil Hall, AAT Head of Public Affairs & Public Policy via Twitter or via email.  

AAT summoned to give evidence

Last month, AAT Director of Strategy & Professional Standards Adam Harper gave oral evidence to the Treasury Select Committee as a result of our response to their inquiry into economic crime.

Adam provided forthright views on the new money laundering regulator (OPBAS) established to oversee AAT and 21 other accountancy and legal bodies. He also gave insight into AAT’s role as an enforcer of high standards in relation to anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. 

Labour MP Wes Streeting said AAT’s views on OPBAS “pulled no punches”, Conservative MP Simon Clarke probed as to the veracity of AAT’s practice assurance reviews and Labour’s Alison McGovern MP tried to put Adam on the spot about potential conflicts of interest. 

Comprehensive responses, peppered with good humour, resulted in the Committee leaving with a very positive opinion of AAT, with one MP describing the session as “fascinating”.

You can view the session in full on the Parliament Live website. 

Widespread praise for AAT gender equality activities 

AAT published its gender pay gap data as part of its annual report long before it was legally required to do so, it was the first and remains the only accountancy body to have signed the Women in Finance Charter (almost two years ago) and it regularly engages with policymakers on issues relating to gender equality.

Our views on gender pay gap reporting gained the support of the 30% Club, the Fawcett Society and some members of the BEIS Select Committee earlier this year. Last month, the Chair of Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee, Maria Miller MP, praised AAT for its “positive response” whilst the BBC’s Carrie Gracie said AAT appeared to be “ahead of the curve”. This builds on previous support of Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman who similarly praised AAT’s work.

ISA campaign gains support

Five months on from AAT's publishing the groundbreaking Time for change: a review of the ISA regime, politicians and the media continue to express their support and interest in the proposals. 

The Telegraph again highlighted our proposals. 

AAT consultation, call for evidence and inquiry responses

AAT responded to the OTS review of Inheritance Tax (IHT). Only 4% of UK estates pay IHT, and AAT have made clear that this fact needs to be more effectively communicated to the public as many more than 4% believe they will be affected by IHT and act accordingly. We made various other recommendations, some of which, such as scrapping IHT exemptions for AIM shares, made the national press.

AAT also responded to consultations on tax abuse, automation and the future of work and business productivity. These, and more, can be read in full on the AAT public policy work page.

Artificial intelligence? 

London hosted the world’s largest AI conference from June 11-12 with 6,000+ attendees and over 300 speakers. Topics covered included ethics and AI, the impact of big data, deep learning, robotics, automation and of course government policy and investment. 

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Matt Hancock MP, waxed lyrical about the importance of skills in the new digital economy, highlighting that coding was now compulsory in schools (although, as AAT has highlighted previously, this will not deliver what’s needed). 

There was praise for the new TechTalent Charter, to which every government department has now signed up – something that AAT is carefully considering too. 

FT journalist Laura Noonan said that most human jobs could be undertaken by machines, which has implications for all of us and, in turn, the economy as a whole. However, fear not: there was broad agreement that robots, AI and automation will continue to play an enhancing role rather than a replacing role amongst the UK workforce.

Other events, meetings and engagement

• We met with HMRC’s new Head of Tax Professionalism to discuss HMRC staff numbers and training, which are issues where AAT might be able to assist.
• We also met with the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCSU) to discuss the same issues.
• Meetings with CIMA to discuss lobbying activity were also held in June.
• The Chartered Institute of Tax (CIOT) held an evening reception in the House of Commons, which provided a good opportunity to further enhance relationships with various stakeholders.
• A few days later, CIOT also hosted a tax debate on tax avoidance and public trust in the UK tax system with Tax Justice UK and PwC .
• The Chartered Association of Business Schools reception to celebrate their Small Business Charter (sponsored by Xero) similarly enabled AAT to further cement existing relationships with a range of stakeholders with an interest in the SME community.
• A lengthy roundtable discussion on open banking with Xero, Sage, KPMG, Intuit, Barclays, HSBC and a number of tech companies proved helpful in establishing that many are already benefiting from the concept, although much more is yet to come.
• Further engagement with the Treasury Select Committee was facilitated by attendance at the launch of their report into Women in Finance, held at Bloomberg.
• AAT attended an ACCA reception in the Scotland office, where we were able to highlight the contribution of our 1,800 members north of the border.
• Attending the APPG on Responsible Tax last month saw the issue of gendered tax being discussed – different forms of taxation have different impacts on women and men; not only distributional but behavioural.
• A CBI Conference bringing those with an interest in the medium-sized business community together proved another good opportunity to highlight the valuable contribution that Informi is making to the knowledge and understanding of UK SMEs.