Sunderland's leaders vow to shun companies not paying their 'fair share' of tax
Sunderland City Council has agreed to back the Fair Tax Mark campaign, which urges local authorities to only do business with firms committed to paying their fair share of tax.
But bosses on Wearside stopped just short of formally signing up to the pledge, promising instead to ‘support the principles’ proposed.
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Hide Ad“During the pandemic, we’ve seen the things tax pays for,” said Green councillor Dom Armstrong, who proposed the original motion.
“The NHS, teachers, the armed forces – it’s not smart to not pay your taxes, it’s actually pretty stupid.”
Cllr Armstrong was speaking at a meeting of the full city council on January 27, which was held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.
His original proposal had called for the council to ensure ‘not for profit’ arrangements were not abused by council contractors to avoid paying tax.
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Hide AdBut an amendment by the ruling Labour Party group added this should only be done ‘where resources allow’ and deleted a commitment to ensure transparency over the ownership of companies doing work for the local authority.
Deputy council leader Paul Stewart insisted it was only a ‘technical amendment’.
He said: “[We] support the clear direction of this, in terms of doing what we can to take a position on tax evasion and tax avoidance.
“The general thrust of this motion, we are fully supportive of.”
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Hide AdCouncil leader Graeme Miller claimed the council’s resources were not sufficient to ‘do what the original motion set out, adding it was ‘not weakness, just practical behaviour’.
Cllr Armstrong expressed his disappointment, but accepted it was a ‘starting point’.
Opposition Liberal Democrat leader Niall Hodson, who co-sponsored the motion with Cllr Armstrong, was more critical however, accusing Labour of ‘watering down’ the commitment.
He said: “The purpose of a motion like this is because we as councillors have the power to do things – this is words, rather than action.
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Hide Ad“It’s a cowardly position to take and [the Liberal Democrats] will be voting against it.”
The Lib Dems voted against accepting the amendment, but offered no opposition in a subsequent vote on the final agreed version of the motion.