This article was originally published on 9 February 2014 and contains links to the main documents related to the Nuttall Review of Employee Ownership.
It has been updated to include links to statutory instruments that deal with making EMI options compatible with employee-ownership trusts and amendments to the "Nuttall Review" share buy-back provisions. There are additional materials available from the Making employee ownership more accessible UK Government policy web page.
1. Nuttall Review – main documents
- Sharing Success: The Nuttall Review of Employee Ownership (4 July 2012), Responding to Nuttall – next steps to a John Lewis economy speech by Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister, related Government web page and Government shows support for employee ownership “Welcoming recommendations” Press Releases (and see the equivalent in announcement format)
- Government Response to the Nuttall Review: Next Steps for Employee Ownership (30 October 2012), related Government web page and Action to boost employee ownership sector approved Press Release (30 October 2012)
- Nuttall Review of Employee Ownership: One Year On Report (19 November 2013), related Government web page and Employee ownership flourishes in UK Press Release (19 November 2013)
2. Nuttall Review announcements
- The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg's Mansion House speech (16 January 2012) announcing plan to appoint an independent adviser on employee ownership
- Appointment of independent adviser on employee ownership (8 February 2012) Press Release
- Deputy Prime Minister’s speech to the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference (15 March 2012) confirming “We’re talking about a big chunk of the company belonging to a significant number of staff”
- Dismantling barriers to employee ownership, Graeme Nuttall interview with Practical Law (6 March 2012)
3. Informal consultation
- Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (archived) employee ownership web page
4. “Right to request” consultation
- Call for evidence on raising awareness of employee ownership consultation web page (7 July 2012)
- see Government response to the Nuttall review: next steps for employee ownership for outcome
5. Robert Oakeshott Memorial lecture
- Deputy Prime Minister speech on employee ownership (27 March 2013) outlined the progress the Government had made on employee ownership since the Nuttall Review was published.
6. Employee ownership and share buy backs
- Employee Ownership and Share Buy Backs: Consultation on Implementation of Nuttall Review Recommendations, Employee Ownership and Share Buy Backs: Consultation Stage Impact Assessmentand Draft Statutory Instrument, (30 October 2012)
- Employee Ownership and Share Buy Backs: Implementation of Nuttall Review Recommendation V - Government Response to Consultation and Employee Ownership and Share Buy Backs: Final Stage Impact Assessment (15 February 2013) and Government web page for consultation
- The Companies Act 2006 (Amendment of Part 18) Regulations 2013 (with effect from 30 April 2013), Statutory Instrument Explanatory Memorandum and Government measures boost direct employee ownership Press Release
- Employee Ownership and Share Buy Backs: Simple Guide to Companies Act 2006 (Amendment of Part 18) Regulations 2013 (November 2013) and related web page
- Purchase of Own Shares by Non-Quoted Companies – Tax Implications for Employees Selling Shares
- Draft The Companies Act 2006 (Amendment of Part 18) Regulations 2015 and draft explanatory note (12 January 2015) and final The Companies Act 2006 (Amendment of Part 18) Regulations 2015 (2 March 2015)
- Simple guide to the Companies Act 2006 (Amendment of Part 18) Regulations 2013 & 2015 (24 April 2015)
7. EO Day 2013 publications following Nuttall review recommendations
- Moving to Employee Ownership: A Brief Guide For Employees (4 July 2013) and related web page)
- Model documentation: For a Company with Employee Ownership
- Moving to Employee Ownership: Guidance on Model Documentation
- Employee Share Trust – Introduction to Tax Issues
- related guidance and model documentation web page
- Business celebrates first UK employee ownership day (4 July 2013) Press Release
8. Amending the rule against perpetuities
- Amending the Rule Against Perpetuities and Further Reducing the Complexity of Employee Ownership: Call for Evidence (19 November 2013) and related Government web page
- On amending the rule against perpetuities and further reducing the complexity of employee ownership: government response (June 2014)
9. Implementation Group on Employee Ownership
- Meeting minutes home page
10. Government home pages
- UK Government web page with “making employee ownership more accessible” policy statement
- Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and HM Treasury Employee Ownership home page
- HM Revenue & Customs Employee Ownership home page
11. HM Treasury internal review
- Budget 2012 (21 March 2012) announcement that “HM Treasury would conduct an internal review to examine the role of employee ownership in supporting growth and examine options to remove barriers, including tax barriers, to its wider take-up”
- Autumn Statement 2012 (5 December 2012) set out the key outcomes of HM Treasury’s internal review
12. Employee ownership trust tax exemptions in the Finance Act 2014
- Budget 2013 Report (20 March 2013) announcement that “The Government supports employee ownership as a business model and welcomes work by the Implementation Group on Employee Ownership to take forward the recommendations of the Nuttall Review...”.
- Government to provide two new tax reliefs to encourage employee ownership news story (4 July 2013)
- Supporting the employee-ownership sector consultation paper
- Supporting the employee-ownership sector: summary of responses (10 December 2013) and related Supporting the employee-ownership sector consultation web page
- Chancellor George Osborne's Autumn Statement 2013 speech (5 December 2013) confirming “We set out major reforms to encourage employee ownership”
- Employee ownership tax legislation consultation draft and explanatory note (10 December 2013)
- Budget 2014 Report (19 March 2014) confirmation that "As announced at Budget 2013, the government will introduce a package of tax reliefs to support the employee ownership sector" (para 2.71)
- Employee ownership trusts – explanation of changes following consultation
- Finance (No.2) Bill 2013-14 (esp. Schedule 33 and see Explanatory notes). Bill 001 of the 2014-15 session contained the same draft employee-ownership trust provisions, as did Bill 10. No changes were made by the Public Bill Committee in the House of Commons. The Bill was amended on Report in the House of Commons. The amended draft employee-ownership trust provisions are in Schedule 37 of the Bill 35 2014-15. HM Revenue & Customs provided an explanation of these amendments
- Finance Act 2014 (see section 290 and Schedule 37)
- HM Revenue & Customs guidance on inheritance tax aspects of employee ownership trusts (14 August 2014)(and see HMRC Trusts and Estates Newsletter)
- Amendment to the independence requirement for the Enterprise Management Incentives arrangement to accommodate companies owned by an employee-ownership trust (1 October 2014 appointed day)
- HM Revenue & Customs guidance on the Disclosure of tax avoidance schemes (known as DOTAS) explains in relation to the financial products hallmark that the employee-ownership trust rules "require shares to be disposed of to a qualifying vehicle and there is no need to include unusual terms in the shares for the rules to apply". Accordingly, this hallmark of a scheme that needs disclosing should not apply because one of its conditions, condition 3, should not be met.
Please note: Employee-shareholder status (originally announced as employee-owner status on 8 October 2012) is not a Nuttall Review recommendation, and neither is the Employer Ownership Pilot. For information on UK public service mutuals please start with the Cabinet Office Mutuals Information Service