More than nine out of 10 recruitment agency bosses and managed service providers believe the government should implement an accreditation scheme for providers, according to a survey by umbrella company 3Sixty.

The survey found that 61% said they "strongly agreed" with the idea, while 30% "agreed".

Barry Roback chief executive of chartered accountants JSA, told Recruiter that he "wasn't surprised" by the finding. In the absence of preferred supplier lists (PSLs), which many recruiters abandoned for fear of being caught by the debt transfer provisions of the MSC legislation (see Recruiter, 22 August), the market had become "a free-for-all", and an accreditation scheme was the only viable option, he argued.

Roback said: "It's what the industry wants: an independent body that will certify providers and therefore be relied upon, because the uncertainty is killing everyone.

"The bad operators wouldn't get certified, and therefore wouldn't get used, and as a result they would disappear commercially."

Roback said that without this the trend for contractors to get advice from "less experienced and less selfregulated" providers would continue, having "long-term detrimental effects on compliance", and putting recruiters at financial risk. Brian Keegan, managing director at 3Sixty, told Recruiter that an accreditation scheme "was likely".

The current legislation had lead to an increase in contractors using bogus schemes, he said, and this had the potential to reduce the Treasury's overall tax take. This could provide the catalyst for such a scheme, he predicted.

"My view is that the Revenue may outsource compliance to one or all of the 'big 4' chartered accountants," said Keegan.

Isaac George, managing director at Xansa Recruitment told Recruiter: "We believe that an approved list by the recruitment industry bodies, 'okayed' by HMRC, would avoid any risk of the agencies providing incorrect advice to candidates and help all parties to comply with the legislation."

However, an HMRC spokesperson said it had "no plans" to provide an accreditation scheme, citing lack of resources.