‘Ban tax avoiders’

Feb 6 2013 by Liam Murphy, Birkenhead News

COMPANIES which avoid tax or blacklist workers could be banned from competing for lucrative contracts under proposals to be considered by Wirral council.

Senior Liberal Democrat councillor Stuart Kelly is urging the council to back the plans and ensure only companies who run their businesses in an “ethical way” can be considered for council work.

The Oxton councillor is calling for companies using these tactics to be banned from the authority’s approved list for future construction work, and urging the council to work with the Local Government Association to strengthen processes for selecting companies “bidding for the delivery of public service contracts to demonstrate high ethical, environmental and anti-tax avoidance standards”.

He said: “We need to ensure that the companies being paid with taxpayers’ money pay their fair share of tax in the UK are not connected with any off-shore tax havens, and do not discriminate against groups of workers.

“Wirral Council procures millions of pounds of goods and services a year, and it is important to ensure that the companies it awards contracts to are playing by the same tax rules as Wirral taxpayers.”