The relationship between agencies and contractors is a difficult, awkward and even troubled one, characterised by misconceptions and lack of mutual understanding on either side.

This was one of the key messages to emerge from a roundtable event, organised by umbrella company Parasol and the Professional Contractors Group (PCG), and attended by contractors, recruiters and others in the industry in London earlier this month.

One issue was the extent to which agencies offered contractors advice on their working and tax arrangements, and whether contractors wanted this advice anyway.

Nick Butcher, chief executive at IT recruiter Capital International said that a lot of recruiters were "washing their hands" of giving advice for fear they would fall foul of the debt transfer provisions of the Managed Service Company legislation.

However, Mark Powell, an IT contractor responded that this was not what he expected from his agency, anyway. "If my agency said this, I would say 'butt out'," he said.

David Clayden, a director of IT recruiter Preferred IT argued that such advice was important for the long-term survival of the contracting industry. "We need people entering the industry with the right skills and if they are not getting advice from agencies, then they are going to move out of the industry."

Ann Swain, chief executive of the Association of technology Staffing Companies said it was more complicated. "Some want advice from an agency and some don't," she said.

But Tim Self, an IT contractor responded: "It's up to the contractor. They are all grown-up people. They shouldn't have to be spoon fed." He added: 'I just want to work and earn money."

John Brazier, managing director of the PCG said that contractors that want customer care are generally better served by smaller agencies. "With the larger agencies it becomes more like just business," he said.

Swain said that a lot of customer care had been lost in the speed of modern business.

Self said he received phone calls from recruitment consultants seeking general information about the market. He also received wholly irrelevant emails from recruiters. "It's not professional," he said. He said the reason for this was because recruiters were expected to meet targets.

Butcher advised Self that he should report such behaviour.