From: Royston Jones, blogging as Jac o’ the North http://jacothenorth.net/blog/

To: Carwyn Jones AM, First Minister, Welsh Government.

18.10.2016

LINK HOLDINGS (GIBRALTAR) LTD

Dear Mr Jones, I have no way of knowing if you’ve read my recent blog posts, so I’ll proceed on the assumption you have not. The posts tell of housing associations leasing property from the company named above. The RSLs in question are the Coastal Housing Group and the Family Housing Association Wales Ltd, both based in Swansea. The facts were established by downloading both freehold and leasehold documents from the Land Registry website for two specific properties in different parts of the city. I can’t afford to buy dozens of documents from the Land Registry yet I believe it’s reasonable to assume that other properties are leased – possibly rented – from this company. Given that there are other companies registered in tax havens owning property in Wales it’s also reasonable to assume that other housing associations lease or rent from similar companies. (What follows may be regarded as a Freedom of Information request.) On the assumption that you share most people’s abhorrence for companies hiding offshore: •

How do you explain Welsh public funding being filtered via housing associations to companies in tax havens?

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Does your administration have a policy, or guidance, for dealing with companies of indeterminate probity based in tax havens?

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If so, has this policy, or guidance, been communicated to your civil servants and bodies in receipt of public funding?

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If there is no such policy in place don’t you think it would be a good idea to have one?

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Can I have your assurance that you will investigate how many housing associations lease or rent from offshore property companies such as Link Holdings (Gibraltar) Ltd?

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Following on from the previous question will you tell me how many properties are involved, and how much our housing associations are paying to offshore companies?

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If dealings with companies based in tax havens are not restricted to housing associations can you tell me which other departments and agencies deal with such companies and the sums involved?

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Can you give me an assurance that your administration will ensure that in future your departments, agencies, and any body in receipt of public funding, such as housing associations, will have no dealings with companies based in tax havens?

Yours faithfully

Royston Jones