Ref: FOI/2022/4536
You asked
1. Could you please tell me what the most up to date figures are for UK based employees vs contractor worker ratio is (is there a stat for this?) How many contractors are there in the manufacturing industry?
2. In 2019 it was stated that 90% of contractors were outside of IR35, is this still the case?
We said
Thank you for your queries regarding contractors in the UK.
1. Unfortunately, we do not produce statistics on comparisons of numbers of employees and contractors. The nearest equivalent that we produce is numbers of employees and numbers of self-employed, however, we don't produce statistics that sub-set the types of self-employment.
The latest comparison of employees and self-employed by industry are published quarterly as part of the labour market release in our table EMP14.
We would suggest that Department for Work and Pensions may be better placed to help you with this information they can be contacted at:
Freedom of Information requests
Department for Work and Pensions
Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1H 9NA
United Kingdom
Email: freedom-of-information-request@dwp.gov.uk
2. The 90% statistic, published as part of an FOI in 2019 (accessible here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/contractorswhoaredeemedtobeoutsideir35) related specifically to contractors at ONS, rather than contractors in general. Unfortunately, we do not have any information on how many contractors IR35 relates to in general.
We would suggest that His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) may be better placed to help you with the information you require they can be contacted at:
HMRC FoI Act Team
S1715
7th Floor
Central Mail Unit
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
United Kingdom
Email foi.request@hmrc.gov.uk