Matalan

The ABC has complained to the DWP about a scheme operated locally by the Colchester Jobcentre Plus that buys all clothing and shoes from Matalan via the Flexible Support Fund. The funds management does not seem to very flexible in our view, and by making the payments discretionary, ‘parking’ is bound to occur as managers decide who they will support and they will not. We have evidence of individuals, the long term unemployed - being deprived of assistance to get to job interviews.

This is particularly so in IT where the JCP will not fund support to an interview for contract work.

In regard to support for purchasing clothing, for interviews and to starting work – claimants have to buy from Matalan with a voucher.

We have a suit maker in Colchester for example, however with a local JCP office specifying one provider only, taxpayer’s money is involved in a scheme that is a ‘restraint of trade’ and contrary to the principals of the EU. At the very least there should be a panel of providers, and a transparent open bidding process, for a company to be selected as a DWP provider.

Matalan’s founder John Hargreaves currently resides in Monaco with his partner. This alleged non-residence in the UK has enabled him to claim that he is not liable to Capital Gains Tax on a gain of £200 million arising on the disposal of Matalan shares. This claim was resisted by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the matter has been subject to litigation. We believe Mr Hargreaves lost his appeal.

Mr. Hargreaves sons and daughters Jason Hargreaves (now head of the family firm) Jamie his brother, and his sister Maxine, are also residents of Monaco, to the best of our knowledge and the firm is registered in Guernsey.

The ABC asks why should benefit claimants, who are being prosecuted for failing to pay Council Tax in many cases through hardship, or those on other benefits, be forced to place business with a private Company and its owners, who are involved in very aggressive tax avoidance?

Jason Hargreaves has married Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. According to Wikipedia, in 1999, Palmer-Tomkinson was treated at the Meadows clinic in Arizona for a cocaine addiction, In 2006, Palmer-Tomkinson received extensive publicity after her septum nasi collapsed due to her former £400-a-day addiction to cocaine. In 2014, Palmer-Tomkinson appeared on the celebrity special edition of The Jeremy Kyle Show in which she revealed the depths of her cocaine addiction and the truth behind her reported relapse.

Taking Class, A drugs is a criminal offense, and is it right and proper that Iain Duncan Smith, the DWP and Colchester Jobcentre, should be forcing claimants to place business with the owner of private company, whose spouse is involved, or has been involved, with taking Class A drugs? While at the same time nationally the DWP and Iain Duncan Smith are suggesting that claimants with drugs and alcohol issues could have their benefits stopped, if they refuse to accept treatment?  

This smacks of double-standards. However, the main issue is the fact that local traders are excluded from getting business from the DWP, while a company whose founder and Chairman has claimed non-domiciled status, in a bid to avoid paying tax on a substantial Capital Gain, can benefit in an exclusive arrangement. This is a private company whose family executives, have planned their affairs in order to deprive the UK tax base of revenue, that now has to be collected from the unwaged, and those on low incomes. This does not seen right?

Claimants should have the right of free choice to make ethical purchases based on their free will and conscience and we feel this exclusive arrangement between the DWP and a private family firm is unethical and is potentially a breach of the EU concept of free trade. 

Monaco - Tax haven for the super-wealthy. 

Reproduced from: The Week Magazine

According to official figures quoted by the BBC last year, in the 2012/2013 tax year the shortfall of tax that should have been collected by HMRC versus what it actually brought in had risen to £34bn.  This eye-watering figure includes £14bn in uncollected income tax, national insurance and capital gains tax, and £12.4bn in uncollected VAT.

Personal evasion and avoidance was a significant part of the problem. The Financial Times says tax evasion, which is defined as the illegal act of deliberately hiding information about your finances to reduce your tax bill, amounted to £4.1bn. A smaller £3.1bn was lost to tax avoidance, which is the legal use of tax loopholes, while £5.4bn was lost as a result of criminal activity such as smuggling.

Benefit Fraud the article pinted out 

Overpayments are often the result of errors on the part of the Government rather than criminal intent.