The Government came up with quite a good idea( it can happen?)
To encourage youngsters to find work and to be trained they had the idea of introducing an apprewnticeship scheme.
Companies would be encouraged to take on apprentices and would receive a subsidy in return for doing this.
However, if a company was large enough to have a wage bill in excess of 33m per year, they would be required to repay an apprenticeship levy of 0.5%.
For a company the size of Firstport that could amount to £250-£300,000 each year.
For most companies this would not prove a problem?
But for the struggling Firstport group (who are up for sale and have been forced to sell 275 of their house manager flats leasehold interests in order to keep trading) this is a problem.
So just how did they get around the problem of finding the money?
As an eagled eyed resident found out in a manner so typical of the utterly corrupted Firstport?
They simply added the levy cost to development srrvice charges.
Mind you, you have to look very closely, where you will find the charge tucked away under "Staff Employment Costs"
Naturally these charges have been challenged with Nigel Howell, CEO Firstport asked to respond?
As ever, when Firstport and their CEO are caught out in yet another scandal, the self serving justification for yet another scandal, the call in their expert in sophistry Mr Chris Owens who has well earned his reputation for distortion over the years.
His explanation appears to be that training benefits all leaseholders,that it is not a lot of money, that management fees would have to be increased if leaseholders did not pay this way as "any costs should pay through their service charges any costs directly attributable to specific staff that service their needs."
And get this? Developments are being charged where there are not even any apprentices (unless Mr Owens considers someone with 13 years service to be an apprentice?)
For the record the apprenticeship levy is a normal business expense. It is not part of a development service charge. As such it should not be charged and most certainly should not be paid.
Firstport should drop these charges with immediate effect.
