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Public Services

My rt hon Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

On 5 March 2015 I published the conclusions of HM Treasury’s second evaluation of departments’ compliance with the rules governing off-payroll appointments in central government.

The evaluation raised a number of concerns regarding implementation of the guidance at UK Export Finance. I stated that I had asked the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury to commission the Government Internal Audit Agency to carry out an independent audit of the implementation of the off-payroll guidance at UK Export Finance, following which further consideration would be given to the need for any sanction.

The independent audit is now complete and has identified that the off-payroll guidance was not properly implemented at UK Export Finance. As a result I shall be issuing a fine against UK Export Finance of £500,000 for breaches of the guidance which involve the failure to seek proper assurance regarding the tax arrangements of a number of individuals.

While the vast majority of off-payroll contracts are in place for legitimate reasons, I am committed to ensuring that the public sector demonstrates the highest standards of integrity in this area and that public sector employers meet all their tax obligations. The Treasury will continue to monitor compliance to ensure this is the case.