A select committee of MPs has heard evidence that the charity Kids Company was let off paying a £600,000 tax bill as a result of a letter sent from the former chair of trustees to a government minister, reports Pat Sweet
Kids Company former chairman and senior BBC executive Alan Yentob cited a letter he wrote to Dawn Primarolo in evidence to the first public session of the public administration and constitutional affairs committee’s inquiry into the financial management and leadership of Kids Company, which collapsed suddenly earlier this year.
Yentob said the letter, which he said related to a ‘£700,000 tax payment’, was sent in 2003 when the charity was under financial pressure and faced eviction from its original headquarters in Southwark.
Former Kids Company chief executive and founder Camila Batmanghelidjh went on to tell MPs at the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee that the charity had approached David Blunkett who had intervened with the Treasury to waive a PAYE tax bill of £580,000.
