HS2 contractors referred to taxman over provide of employees

The corporate construction the HS2 rail line between London and Birmingham has reported considered one of its subcontractors to the tax government over imaginable fraud.

Whistleblowers made allegations over the way in which pay was once treated for some building workforce at the high-speed line.

HS2 Ltd mentioned final month it was once accomplishing its personal investigation, taking a look into two companies who equipped it with employees. The corporate has now additionally referred the subject to HMRC.

The companies in query had been offering employees to Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV), a contractor for HS2.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is predicted to lift the problem in Parliament this week. It is the newest problem to beset the massive rail infrastructure venture.

HS2 has confronted myriad demanding situations and spiralling prices because it was once first introduced in 2009.

It was once in the beginning designed to spice up capability at the railways between the north and south of England however the final, Conservative, executive made up our minds to scrap the second one segment of the venture, which integrated construction traces to Manchester and Leeds.

Earlier this yr whistleblowers flagged considerations over the way in which some subcontracted workforce had been being paid. They mentioned self-employed employees were falsely declared as salaried workforce, with “fake” payslips submitted at a better payrate. The allegations had been first revealed within the i newspaper in May.

One of the labour providers is known to stay suspended from new contracts whilst inquiries proceed.

An HS2 spokesperson mentioned: “We treat all whistleblower allegations seriously and are continuing to conduct our own investigation.”

The company mentioned it inspired someone with related data to record it by means of confidential inner channels.

The Department for Transport mentioned final month it had “a zero-tolerance attitude towards fraud, bribery, and corruption” and would be sure that any claims of wrongdoing had been totally investigated.