Student loans chief in tax scandal got job with help of SNP ministers
February 4, 2012 by Richard
Filed under Uncategorized
Published on Saturday 4 February 2012 00:36
SCOTTISH ministers were involved in the controversial decision to appoint the head of the Student Loans Company who has been paid via a company without tax being deducted, a series of letters has revealed.
The decision to hand the role of chief executive of the Student Loans Company to Ed Lester was agreed by the Westminster government “jointly with Scottish Ministers”, a letter from the UK Minister for Universities David Willetts to the Glasgow-based firm showed.
A separate letter from the Student Loans Company to Mr Willetts in December 2010 also confirmed that “approval is being sought in parallel from Scottish ministers by Scottish officials” for the appointment of Mr Lester.
The UK government was previously heavily criticised for allowing Mr Lester to save tens of thousands of pounds in tax from his £182,000 salary, after the taxation arrangements were disclosed in an HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) letter obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
However, the SNP government was yesterday attacked for its possible role in the decision to “sanction tax avoidance schemes for top civil servants” such as Mr Lester, with ministers urged to publish all the paperwork the administration holds about the appointment.
Scottish Labour’s education spokesman, Hugh Henry, said that SNP ministers should now say “what they were told about his salary and unusual employment arrangements”, as he demanded to know which figure in the Scottish Government had “signed off on the appointment”.
Mr Henry also claimed that a senior civil servant from Scotland education minister Michael Russell’s department has been involved in the decision to appoint Mr Lester.
He said: “I hope we are all agreed that it is unacceptable for ministers to sanction tax avoidance schemes for top civil servants. Scottish ministers need to speak up if they knew about this. The letters which have now emerged are a curious development and one which requires answers from Scottish ministers.
“Since they authorised the appointment of Ed Lester in this manner, we need to know what Scottish ministers knew of his tax avoidance arrangement. Now we need to know which Scottish minister signed off on the appointment and what they were told about his salary and unusual employment arrangements. In particular, which ministers and officials in the Scottish government had sight of the letter setting out the proposed employment arrangements?
A Scottish Government spokesman yesterday admitted that Mr Russell had “agreed with the appointment” of Mr Lester. The spokesman said: “In appointing Mr Lester to his post, Department for Business Innovation Skills ministers consulted Mr Russell, who agreed with the appointment as did the lead ministers of the other devolved nations. While Mr Russell was advised of Mr Lester’s package as a matter of routine, no sense was given of how this could be a tax avoidance issue.”
Comments
There are 19 comments to this article
#13 Huntley, Aye you’re right. The Barnett Formula again. London Labour have left some legacy.
A ridiculous article and an insult to the intellect! Get a grip Guys!
hey morrice the dolphin……….anybody can comment on here……………..regardless of where they may abide or their country of birth. I realise that jumped up wee britnats like to dictate who can comment but people (and their are plenty of them obviously) can say whatever they like without being policed by the likes of yourself. Ta for learning something for once………….
Labour are the very best we in Scotland can hope for!……………………..They are pure great and the Scotsman has been very successful in selling that to the Scottish electorate hence we have a majority SNP Scottish Government to tell the anti Scotsman it is time for a ‘wee rethink!!
Another thing, Jimmy the Pie, have you noticed how the Scotsman is very selective in the stories it prints? If there is a story that shows Labour in a bad light, it is totally ignored. If a story can be painted as anti-SNP it is given upfront promotion and dominates the news. The Scottish news media is becoming very Orwellian in its news management. Sadly we seem to be fed propaganda rather then news these days.
Dear oh dear. It;s just day after day of negative mud slinging from Labour.
#9 Jimmy. I heard the report on the radio this afternoon, but I was not enlightend whether this money is new money or coming from NHS England’s standard budget. If it is new money, is Scotland not entitled to Barnett consequentials, or is it to be regarded as an emergency coming from general UK Contingency funds? From what you write it looks like new money entirely. If the same had occurred in the Scottish Health service I imagine Westminster would have told us to take it from our current Barnett allocations. After all they would tell us we were well enough funded as we are able to provide free prescriptions for everyone.
….and Mike “teenwolf” Russell’s name crops up again. Dear, oh dear.
Hugh Henry ……is………………………………………..anti-Scottish.
The Student Loans Minister was and is employed by WESTMINSTER
The Student Loans Minister was and is PAID by WESTMINSTER
It was Danny Alexander that sanctioned the salary payment method, the scottish Government were NOT involved.
The Scottish Governments only involvemnet would likely to be a contribution to the costs IF ANY, but would not be actually involve in the admisitration regarding salary payment , which is purely down to Westminster
Do grow up Scotman, such childish idiotic articles are a pathetic attempt at trying to smear the Scottish Government.
Surprised at Hugh Henry
And meanwhile more evidence is being revealed into the utter incompetance of London Labour during their disastrous 13 years of mismanagement of the economy. PPPPFI rears its ugly head again. “Seven hospital trusts struggling with crippling private finance initiative debts are to receive £1.5bn in emergency funding from the government to help them avoid cutting patient services to pay their bills.
The Department of Health is making the £1.5bn available – in grants, not loans – to the seven hospital trusts in England with some of the heaviest PFI debts through a “stability” fund. Trusts will be able to use the money to meet PFI repayments, rather than their usual budgets, as long as they meet four conditions set out by the department.
And to think the SNP government were berated by the half wits in London Labour in Scotland for not using PPPPFI!!!!
#2 – Simple solution, I hate soaps on TV so I don’t watch them. So if you don’t like reading the stories on the website then cheerio pal! Thanks for looking in!
#3 “Free bus pass for Salmond” proves my point entirely. Ignore the article entirely and come out with a banal response. Blame Salmond for the mistakes of Westminster even when he had no input. Throw in an insult. And sit back smugly thinking the SNP are damaged by it. With Unionist posters showing that degree of intelligence, the Nationalist camp has little to fear.
Oh dear, oh dear. It’s not looking good for the “pro-Scottish” party. Seems they are turning out to be just like the “anti-Scottish” parties after all!
Salmond is a liabilty in any language.———————–not in Scots
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.
Article source: http://www.scotsman.com/news/education/student_loans_chief_in_tax_scandal_got_job_with_help_of_snp_ministers_1_2096555
