12 February 2024 , 16:26
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An IT firm part-owned by Rishi Sunak’s wife received £7million in public sector invoices last year.
Akshata Murty holds a £619million stake in Infosys, which was co-founded by her father. It saw an almost 50% increase in its public sector work last year, up from £4.7million in 2022, according to figures compiled by Tussell for LBC.
The invoices included over £250,000 from the Government Property Agency (GPA), £27,000 from the Care Quality Commission and £2million from the London Borough of Brent. Across these, Infosys were given contracts worth £1,5million for “Information Communication Technology”, £1.1million for “Consultant fees”, as well as £868,000 for “IT Consultancy” across various levels of government.
It comes after the Sunday Mirror revealed Infosys is in line for millions more pounds of government money as it’s on an “approved list” of suppliers for public sector contracts worth more than £750million.
Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth said: “Following the Tory scandals of VIP lanes handing billions to cronies for duff PPE, taxpayers will want serious questions answered as to how this firm appears to be cashing in. It's high time we had a full explanation as to all the circumstances relating to how these contracts were awarded.”
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A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "All contracts are awarded following an open and fair process, and decisions are rigorously scrutinised. Ministers do not take part in the evaluation or selection of winning bidders."
Ms Murty last month gave up her shares in a separate childcare firm that was given a boost in the Budget. She donated her stake in Koru Kids to charity after her involvement became an "unfair distraction", a statement said. The PM was last summer found to have "inadvertently" broken the MPs' code of conduct by not declaring his wife’s stake in Koru Kids when questioned by a committee in March.
Mr Sunak and Ms Murty are the richest inhabitants of Downing Street in history. The super-rich PM on Friday published a summary of his tax return showing that he made more than £2.2million in the last financial year. The document shows he paid £508,308 in income tax and capital gains tax in the UK.
Mr Sunak paid an effective tax rate of 22.8% on his £2.2million income, which is the same rate as paid by a teacher on an average salary of £41,604, according to figures from Tax Justice UK. It is only slightly higher than the 21% effective tax rate paid by a nurse on a typical salary of £37,000.