The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) is calling on the government to rethink the removal of the VAT staff hire concession, following a further rise in the number of people out of work.

The Office for National Statistics figures showed that unemployment had risen for the three months to August by 164,000 compared to the previous quarter the biggest rise for 17 years.

Kevin Green, chief executive at the REC, said: “At this stage, we need to concentrate on keeping people in work. To this end, we are calling on the government to reconsider removing the VAT staff hire concession on temporary workers, scheduled for April.  The removal of this concession will add £400m to the cost of temporary placements in the financial services, social care and charity sectors.  A cost which few employers can afford in the present climate.
 
“Recruitment agencies will be looking for new opportunities for those who have been made redundant and we urge people to snap up these new opportunities, be they temporary or permanent positions.”