Medway Council has declared its commitment to support the Fair Tax Mark, ensuring the local authority and the companies it works with demonstrate good tax conduct.

Cllr Lauren Edwards, Portfolio Holder for Economic and Social Regeneration and Inward Investment, raised a motion on the matter at Full Council on Thursday, 20 July, which was approved; Medway Council joins 15 other local authorities across London and the south-east in becoming a Fair Tax Council.

The Fair Tax Mark encourages organisations to lead by example and do the right thing in their own tax affairs, requiring greater transparency from suppliers. Organisations involved consider a company’s ethics and how they pay their tax, as well as value for money and quality of services provided, when awarding contracts to companies – it is the gold standard of responsible tax conduct.

Tax is a vital stream of revenue for the public sector to provide essential services, from education, health and social care, to flood defence, roads, policing and defence.

Cllr Edwards said: “I am pleased that the motion on standing up for responsible tax conduct was approved by Full Council. It means that we are committed to demonstrating good practice in our own tax conduct and making sure that those companies that we do business with pay their fair share of tax too.

“It is estimated that nearly 18 per cent of public contracts in the UK have gone to businesses with connections to a tax haven. That needs to change and I’m pleased that Medway Council will be playing its part on clamping down on tax avoidance. Rather than going to offshore tax havens, we need that money staying in our economy and supporting the vital local services that we run to support Medway residents.”

The Fair Tax Foundation reports that the UK as a whole is estimated to lose around £17bn in corporation tax receipts every year as a result of multinational profit shifting alone. Aggressive tax avoidance negatively distorts national and local economies and reduces contributions that support vital public services on which we all rely.

Mary Patel, Networks Manager at the Fair Tax Foundation said: “We’re delighted to see Medway Council standing up for responsible tax conduct by supporting the Councils for Fair Tax Declaration.

“Together with our Fair Tax Councils, we are calling on the UK Government to change the rules so local councils and other public bodies can reward supplier businesses that pay tax fairly and transparently.”