Mike Ryan, the Director General, writes about the new IAP Council.
The IAP’s new administrative year starts on June 1st. That is when the five Council members who have completed their three-year terms of office have to stand down, and new people take over. This year two extra vacancies have arisen, due to the resignations of Alex Robertson and Ian Hargrave, who both had another year to go before their normal tour of duty would have expired.
Ian was Treasurer of the Institution for a time, and laid the foundations for our current accounting system – not the simplest of tasks. The IAP may not be a commercial company, but that does not seem to make the accounting any simpler!
Alex Robertson was a member of the Council, and Vice-president of the IAP, for seven years from its incorporation until just before Christmas last year. His support was invaluable; many of the benefits members enjoy today might not be there but for Alex.
Thus we were left with seven vacancies, but only five people who had come forward to fill them. So there was no need to ballot the membership this year. Those five people were automatically elected to the Council with effect from 1st June, and include two former members of the Council who have agreed to stand again:
Steve Cumbers
Selva Naidu
and three new recruits:
Raymond Butler
John Ellis
Phillip Hamlyn
We welcome all these people, who will serve the Council for the full three-year term. Vacancies created by the two earlier resignations will remain open until next year (unless filled by co-option).
The three Council members who completed their three-year terms and did not stand again are Cecilia Finnerty, Jennifer Edwards and Megan Robertson. We thank them for their efforts on the Institution’s behalf. In particular, Cecilia did a great deal of work as Chairman of the Education Committee and Megan was a most able editor of IAPETUS, the precursor to these pages.
IR35: An Update
Most members will be aware that the judicial review of the IR35 legislation was completed in April. Mr Justice Burton concluded that the Inland Revenue had not acted improperly in applying IR35 measures to counter tax avoidance. He also confirmed that it was neither a breach of Human Rights, nor a cause of restriction of free movement within the EC. The general view appears to be that the amended rules adopted by the Inland Revenue last year altered the impact of the legislation sufficiently to make it robust and consequently able to withstand legal challenge. Nevertheless, the Judge did single out several areas of the Employment Status Manual for clarification.
The judgement has removed any doubt about the current position. However, the IAP will continue to press the Government to recognise that the allowable schedule D expenses of 5% do nothing to encourage entrepreneurial activity. It is also important that we press the case for allowing training expenses. There are few, if any, areas of economic activity that undergo such continual change as software development and the IAP is committed to the professional development of its members.
We need your help to carry out this lobbying as effectively as possible. Let us know about your experiences. Real case studies give us the most potent ammunition.
Don’t forget to email eo@iap.org.uk with items of news about you or your company.
