That this House deplores the failure to date of HMRC to propose a resolution to the dispute with the Roadchef Employee Benefits Trust; notes that Honourable Members and Ministers have been informed by HMRC that they are seeking a resolution but regrets HMRC’s considerable delay in proposing a resolution, further notes that the scandal affecting over 4000 mainly low paid catering and cleaning staff working at Roadchef Motorway Services including Norton Cranes, Taunton Dene, Tibshelf, Sandbach, Clacket Lane, Strensham, Rownhams, Killington Lake, Pont Abraham, Annandale Water and Harthill has been ongoing for over 30 years; is saddened to note the recent death of Tim Warwick the Company Secretary who exposed the Roadchef share scandal perpetrated by former Chief Executive Tim Ingram Hill; notes that other beneficiaries have also died waiting for HMRC to decide what tax, if any, they and the Trust should be liable for despite Parliament's intention that such employee benefits schemes should be tax free; calls on the Chief Executive of HMRC to meet with the Trust with proposals to resolve this matter urgently; and calls on the Government to propose legislation to protect participants of employee benefit schemes from the unscrupulous actions of trustees as occurred in the Roadchef case.

That this House deplores the failure to date of HMRC to propose a resolution to the dispute with the Roadchef Employee Benefits Trust; notes that Honourable Members and Ministers have been informed by HMRC that they are seeking a resolution but regrets HMRC’s considerable delay in proposing a resolution, further...

That this House supports employee share ownership and believes that such schemes reward loyalty and hard work by giving employees a real stake in their company with tax breaks; commends the Social Market Foundation's report entitled Strengthening Employee Ownership in the UK; notes that the Roadchef Employee Benefits Trust, the first tax exempt all-employee share ownership scheme of its kind in the UK approved by the then UK Government and HMRC, was missed from the list of all-employee share ownership schemes that currently benefit from tax breaks under existing legislation because it was stripped of its assets by Roadchef's former CEO in breach of trust; further notes that Trustees subsequently recovered compensation from HMRC and the former CEO but are prevented from distributing this vital money to approximately 4,000 beneficiaries, mainly low-paid former and current cleaning and catering staff of Roadchef, because HMRC are still considering what taxes to charge the Trust and its beneficiaries; believes this dispute could be swiftly resolved by correcting existing legislation to add the Trust to the list of all-employee share ownership schemes and to ensure that schemes of this nature do not lose their tax exempt status where the trustee has restored monies to the Trust following a breach of trust as in the Roadchef case; and calls on the UK Government to propose an amendment to existing legislation in the Finance Bill to ensure that beneficiaries under the Roadchef scheme are exempt from tax as intended by previous Labour and Conservative Governments and to expedite payouts quickly.

That this House supports employee share ownership and believes that such schemes reward loyalty and hard work by giving employees a real stake in their company with tax breaks; commends the Social Market Foundation's report entitled Strengthening Employee Ownership in the UK; notes that the Roadchef Employee Benefits Trust, the...