AAT Public Affairs & Public Policy activities (January 2019)

Every month AAT highlights some of the key Public Affairs & Public Policy activities undertaken on behalf of our 140,000 members.

Below you will find some key highlights for January 2019.

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.

Another AAT Campaign Success!

Back in July 2018, AAT recommended that the discredited RPI inflation measure be scrapped and replaced with CPI. The positive consequences of doing this would outweigh the negative but we recognised all would not be plain sailing. That’s why we suggested the change take place within the next 5-10 years instead of immediately.

We submitted these views to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee and six months later they published their report into the issue, which agreed. They have called for RPI to be scrapped and replaced with a single measure within the next 5 years.

What does this mean? It will stop the Government from “inflation shopping” i.e. using a higher measure to calculate things like student loan repayments and rail fare increases, and a lower measure for paying out things like state pensions and state benefits.

The House of Lords report is available here, AAT’s 2018 submission is available here and accountancy trade press coverage is available here. 

National Minimum Wage

Mark and I both featured in The Times, highlighting AAT’s concerns about the enforcement of National Minimum Wage legislation.

This follows activity in 2017 and more recently our consultation response to BEIS which sets out the views of our members, and members of the AAT Payroll Panel, in seeking to have a fairer system of enforcement.

Prompt Payment Reform

A recent YouGov poll commissioned by AAT indicated that almost three quarters (73%) of MPs agree with the three changes AAT has long recommended be made to the voluntary Prompt Payment Code.

These are that the Code:

1. be made compulsory for companies employing more than 250 employees
2. see maximum payment terms halved from 60 to 30 days
3. be supported by a clear, simple financial penalty regime for persistent late payers, enforced by the Small Business Commissioner

The AAT recommendations had already gained the backing of the recruitment and construction industries, SMEs and most recently the Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Committee as well as Philip King, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management (CICM) who operate the current voluntary Prompt Payment Code. 

Publication of these survey results led to further national news coverage in The Telegraph, BBC and ITV as well as a host of publications spanning a diverse range of industries from construction to fashion, regional news to money pages not to forget the business news. Over 50 pieces of media coverage have now been delivered, not just to ensure AAT’s name is seen in a positive light by a wide audience but to help keep up the pressure on Government to act.

The AAT campaign was also mentioned in the House of Commons, with SNP MP Marion Fellows asking the BEIS Minister what she planned to do about it during BEIS question on 8 January. 

The Small Business Commissioner is also supportive and further engagement with officials from the Department for Business took place in January too. 

Following this latest round of campaign activity, we also wrote to the Government Minister responsible for this issue, urging her to act. 

For more information read my article in Financial Director magazine.

Charity SORP

AAT’s consultation was submitted on Christmas Eve, well ahead of the February 2019 deadline, enabling us to engage with three members of the House of Lords on the subject as well as securing relevant and positive media coverage in the three main charity sector publications in January.

It was also the tweet of the month – earning almost 10,000 impressions – and has been sent to AAT branches with charity accounting events planned for 2019.

Ethnicity, Gender & Executive Pay Reporting

AAT’s survey of MPs in December 2018 revealed that most MPs think more needs to be done to tackle gender, ethnicity and executive pay discrepancies. 

Issuing a release on the subject delivered over 200 pieces of media coverage for AAT, including national media coverage in The Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the “i” newspaper, The Scotsman and Daily Express as well as accountancy, HR, finance, regional and local press.

AAT has previously submitted hard hitting consultation responses on all three of these issues (in 2018) which are available here.

Women in Business

AAT signed the Women in Finance Charter in 2016 in order to promote gender diversity within our organisation and to help set an example to others. 

The Charter is great, but it only covers the finance sector. What about the rest of the economy? 

AAT has recommended the Charter be widened in scope and opened up to the whole of the British economy so that it can benefit many more employees and employers. 

Our recent YouGov survey demonstrates that most MPs agree with us, so we will be campaigning for this change throughout 2019. The issue has generated some trade press interest too.

Office for Professional Body Anti-money laundering Supervisors (OPBAS)

Accounting Web featured AAT’s YouGov polling which found most MPs have no idea who or what OPBAS is. 

The article also highlighted concerns about the costs associated with the organisation, which will inevitably have to be passed on to the members of the 22 professional bodies (including AAT) that this new organisation now oversees.

Parliamentary engagement

AAT directly engaged with more than a dozen MPs and Peers, on Prompt Payment, Charity SORP and Ethnicity/Executive/Gender Pay Reporting as well as our idea for a Women in Business Charter.  

Adam Harper and I also met with the SNPs Alison Thewliss MP to discuss anti-money laundering activity and a working lunch with Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Peter Dowd MP provided an opportunity to discuss a range of AAT member views on Entrepreneurs Relief, the British Business Bank and National Minimum Wage.

AAT Consultations, Calls for Evidence & Inquiry responses

A quiet start to the year with just two responses being submitted, one in relation to amending tax returns and the other concerning National Minimum Wage rules.

The former response was informed by both an AAT member survey using the Green Room and feedback from members of the AAT Tax Panel, which met last month. The latter was informed by AAT Payroll Panel member discussions and our previous consultation response to the Low Pay Commission in 2017.

Read these responses together with hundreds of others dating back to 2014 here: AAT Public Policy responses

AAT Digital Advisory Panel  

AAT’s Digital Advisory Panel met on 31 January 2019. The Panel consists of representatives from Microsoft, Sage, HMRC, Hiscox Insurance, the Bank of England and others, discussed a wide range of other issues in the usual way. This included bias in algorithms, cyber security and digital challenges for the future whether infrastructure, skills or data management. 

 Other events, meetings and engagement

• APPG on Apprenticeships - AAT was again able to highlight to a small number of Peers and MPs, as well as a range of businesses, that against a backdrop of falling apprenticeship numbers, both AAT and the accountancy sector continue to increase their numbers. This was enhanced by a KPMG speaker who highlighted the value of AAT qualifications
• Briefly meeting with Treasury Minister Robert Jenrick MP, members views on Entrepreneurs Relief and Stamp Duty liability were discussed
• A stakeholder engagement day with the senior leadership team of Companies House and other professional body members proved a great success – a forum to express members concerns with the organisation as well as commending where appropriate
• AAT again hosted one of our regular policy and public affairs meetings with counterparts from CIPFA, ICAEW, CIOT and ACCA to discuss overlapping areas of interest including unregulated accountants; OPBAS, Making Tax Digital, the future of audit and of course, Brexit.
• The CBI Business Rates Working Group, on which AAT sits, met for the first time this year to agree a strategy and action plan for 2019. AAT members have previously expressed their concern with the current business rates policy and AAT will be continuing to act in this area both inside and outside the confines of the CBI.

Keep up-to-date with AAT’s Public Affairs & Policy activities on Twitter: @PhilHallAAT