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A PROBE into the destruction of files on a controversial tax relief scheme has found staff did nothing wrong.
The Department of Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) found “no staff wrongdoing” in the way it disposed of files on the Aggregates Levy Credit Scheme (ALCS).
Under ALCS, quarrying and sand dredging firms in Northern Ireland were given up to £175 million in tax credits between 2004 and 2010.
The then Department of the Environment (DoE) administered the scheme on behalf of Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
In October 2022, The Detail reported concerns about alleged mismanagement of the ALCS and the destruction of files.
A Daera spokesman initially said the files had been destroyed between December 2021 and August 2022 in line with HMRC guidance as well as its internal information management policy.
However, several months later, the department confirmed it was probing complaints that crucial information on the ALCS had been lost when the files were destroyed.
Daera has now said it has finished its investigation.
A departmental spokeswoman said: “The initial review concluded that there was no staff wrongdoing.”
Dean Blackwood, who raised concerns about ALCS while working as a planning official within DoE, questioned why it had taken the department so long to investigate the file destruction.
“It’s an inordinate amount of time to carry out a fact-finding investigation,” he said.
“If you need to establish the facts, you’d normally need to do it quite quickly because things can change, files can be destroyed, people can start having a think about what they need to say or don’t need to say.”
James Orr, director of Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland, said that the department’s approach was “beyond belief”.
“If they have destroyed the files, then it’s going to be difficult to retrieve the information that’s going to shine a light on this,” he said.
A Daera spokesman said: “Both the department and minister appreciate the length of time it took to carry out the investigation was too long and recognise it was carried out against the backdrop of competing demands for the key officials”.
“This in no way reflects on how seriously officials, and the department, took these allegations and the need for them to be properly and thoroughly investigated,” he said.
He said the department would launch another investigation “should any further evidence of wrongdoing be forthcoming”.
ALCS Scheme
In late 2022, The Detail raised concerns about the tax relief scheme itself, including claims from environmental campaigners that it had been mismanaged.
At the time, a Daera spokeswoman said the “department is investigating the allegations”.
For more than 18 months, The Detail repeatedly asked Daera about the progress of the investigation.
However, Daera said earlier this year that it was not investigating the administration of the scheme and referred The Detail to HMRC.
A departmental spokesman said: “Daera and its predecessor department (DoE) were not responsible for making any payments under the ALCS”.
“It would therefore be for HMRC to investigate any allegations of improper tax relief and to determine if they were satisfied the scheme had been properly administered,” he said.
A HMRC spokesman said it no longer holds any ALCS records and did not respond to The Detail’s queries on whether it has investigated any concerns about the scheme.
“We do not hold the records," he said.
"Even if we did hold records, they would be subject to taxpayer confidentiality.”