Ed Lester Steps Down - A Question For Beaker

Exaro reports that Ed Lester is stepping down from his post following the tax avoidance scandal:

"Ed Lester is to stand down as chief executive of the Student Loans Company, Exaro can reveal. It follows the furore over how the senior public official was paid through his personal-service company – with no tax deducted at source.

A spokeswoman for the Student Loans Company (SLC) confirmed that Lester has decided to leave when his contract runs out next January."

The question that now needs to be asked of Beaker Alexander is will the other 2,400 "off payroll" civil servants be also stepping down?

The "Small Society" - Danny "Beaker" Alexander Speaks

Following on the from recent disclosures about the Ed Lester's tax arrangements (which were contrary to the "spirit" of Cameron's and Osborne's public pronouncements on tax avoidance), the Telegraph reports that Danny "Beaker" Alexander (Chief Secretary to the Treasury) will tell MPs that more than 2,000 civil servants (on over £58K per annum) might be being paid their salary off the Government payroll.

Some of them have been paid that way for over 10 years in this way.

Beaker will say that he will publish the job titles and length of contracts of all the officials, although data protection rules mean he cannot publish their names (how "inconvenient!).
However, this is but the thin end of the wedge as the review did not include employees in the National Health Service or local authorities.

What ever happened to the "Big Society"?