Angela Rayner has been accused of attempting to dodge the council tax surcharge on her grace and favour flat whilst she was serving as housing secretary.
The former deputy prime minister is tackling fresh criticism after further questions were raised about her residence in Admiralty House.
Rayner resigned from the government in September after it was revealed that she had underpaid stamp duty on her Hove home. She is said to be planning to return to the cabinet.
Westminster City Council instated a council tax surcharge of 100 per cent on second homes from April 1. According to the Mail on Sunday, this would have meant that her £2,034 on her Whitehall flat should have doubled.
The tax on grace and favour flats is paid by the government, which counts as a second home for ministers.
The Tories have argued that it was Rayner’s personal responsibility to ensure the council tax was paid, under the ministerial code.
.jpg)
According to the code: “Where a minister is allocated an official residence, they must ensure that all personal tax liabilities, including any council tax, are properly discharged and that they personally pay such liabilities.”
The Tory chairman, Kevin Hollinrake, wrote to Rayner in April to enquire about whether she considered the £18 million Whitehall property as her primary or secondary residence.
At the time, she was residing part-time in her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne and was in the process of purchasing her second property in Hove.
Hollinrake was informed that she had “properly discharged” her council tax responsibility.
The government announced on November 21 that the Cabinet Office was aware that Admirality House was Rayner’s second home prior to the premium being introduced, but Westminster City Council was not made aware until May.
Anna Turley, a minister for the Cabinet Office, explained that the government property agency contacted the council in June to verify confirm that the premium on the second-home applied, and an invoice was issued by the council in July, which was paid that day.
The Tories have alleged that parliament had been misled because the payment in July contradicts earlier confirmation that Rayner’s tax duties had been “properly discharged”.
They added that there was a legal requirement to notify the council within 21 days if that had been the case.
Hollinrake wrote to Sir Keir Starmer and his ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, complaining that the July payment was a “cover-up” and maintained that, as housing secretary, Rayner would have been aware of the new tax surcharge.
He wrote: “It is manifestly clear that this July bill was a retrospective payment to address the failure to declare and pay the full tax liability from April 1, 2025.”
A source told The Times: “The government is responsible for liaising with Westminster City Council and administering council tax on Admiralty House, not Angela, and there is no suggestion she did anything other than properly discharge her own responsibilities as and when required.”
A spokesperson for the government: “As the property was a second residence, the government was responsible for paying the council tax on Admiralty House, not the former deputy prime minister, in line with long-standing precedent under successive governments.
“The government property agency paid the full amount as soon as the invoice was received from Westminster council.”
