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Some of the country’s major contractors, a national house builder and several medium sized specialist subcontracting firms are to co-operate with Cranfield University Economics Professor, Andrew Burke to determine how many freelance builders work in construction.
The new study will be conducted by Professor Burke, whose research published last November highlighted the economic value of freelance builders (also known as labour-only subbies) to the construction industry – and to the economic health of the nation.
“I am about to start gathering data from a variety of building sites,” Professor Burke said. “It’s great that some of the leading forces in construction, along with a variety of smaller specialist subcontractors are keen to co-operate.
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“The plan is to take several representative building projects and quantify the proportion of freelance builders among the total man-days on site.”
The necessity to accurately determine the number of freelance construction workers gained momentum in 2009, when HM Treasury seemed to accept trade union figures that suggested the number of ‘falsely self-employed construction workers’ was somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000. “The absence of proven statistics was endorsed by HMRC despite their ability to provide analytical data, and that is why I am undertaking this new research,” says Professor Burke.
Professor Burke has also been selected to go to Westminster later this year as one of the keynote speakers at a roundtable seminar focused on the beneficial effect of freelance workers.
The event will be attended by ministers, MPs, advisers, industry experts and leaders.
He will be joined by a second speaker, Professor Patricia Leighton of IPAG Business School, who is an authority on ‘non-standard’ employment law.
“We hope our contributions will make for a lively discussion of how government can – and should – better support Britain’s growing freelance community, and at the same time protect these workers from exploitation and ensure that they make their fair tax contribution,” adds Professor Burke.
Professor Burke’s first report stimulated the creation of Freelance Builders, an online network that has almost 53,000 members from an estimated workforce of over half a million tradespeople. The report can be downloaded at www.freelancebuilders.co.uk.
About Freelance Builders
Freelance Builders (www.freelancebuilders.co.uk) provides an online community and collective voice on behalf of the 500,000 plus freelance workers in construction. Membership is free and is open to anyone who is self-employed within the UK construction industry. |
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