A COUNCILLOR facing benefit fraud charges claimed he phoned the Department of Work and Pensions to let them know he had been elected as a councillor but was told because he was only contracted to do 16 hours per week it did not affect his benefits.
John Holden was elected to Highland Council in May 2007 as a Labour Party member for Inverness South. He receives a salary of about £17,000 a year.
He is accused of fraudulently claiming council tax benefit and income support he was not entitled to.
He told Inverness Sheriff Court on Wednesday that not long after his election one of his colleagues asked him if he had let the Department of Employment know about his election.
Mr Holden said he replied: "Damn it -I didn’t."
He said he then went to the Job Centre in Church Street where he explained his position to a young lady who gave him a card with a number to phone.
"I phoned the number and spoke to a young lady with a broad Glasgow accent. She asked how many hours I worked and I explained I was contracted to work 16 but I do a lot more going out in the event attending meetings.
"She said you are contracted to do 16 hours so that doesn’t affect your benefits."
Mr Holden told the court he queried the matter but the woman replied: "You called me and I’m telling you."
Holden said he had tried to get extracts of the conversation from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) without any success.
Dawn Wallace of the DWP told the court she could find no record of such a call.
Asked by solicitor Michael Chapman what he had to say to that, Holden replied:
"They asked what hours are on your contract. I said 16 hours but we do much more and she said whatever you do over that is voluntary.
"I had a fairly lengthy conversation with the person concerned."
Mr Chapman said to Holden he was still receiving housing benefit from Highland Council at the time.
"Did you inform them of your change in circumstances," he asked.
Holden replied: "I don’t think I needed to inform Highland Council. They were well aware of my circumstances."
Holden denies making false claims for council tax benefit and single person occupancy discount by stating he lived alone, had no capital and was not in employment and not living with a partner who was in employment.
An alternative to the charge is that he knowingly failed to notify the council of his change of circumstances, that he lived with his wife, had capital and was in employment, and that his wife had capital and was in employment.
Altogether he is accused of obtaining Council Tax benefit of £6,925.24 and single person occupancy discount of £2,300.73 between 6th January 1999 and 13th August 2008, to which he was not entitled.
He is also charged with failing to give notification to the Benefits Agency of the Department of Work and Pensions about his change in circumstances and obtained £34,337.48 to which he was not entitled between 31st December 2002 and 29th August 2008.
Earlier in the trial, Holden claimed his home was being used as a "safe house" for years by a woman he later married.
Asked about the timeline involving his relationship with Mary Holden the councillor said although they first met in 1995 and she had been using his home as her postal address for years after the break up her marriage they did not become romantically involved until March of 2005 having separated from his long term partner earlier that year.
He said they got engaged on holiday in Turkey with his brother and his wife in October 2006 and Mary continued to live with her mother in Esk Road.
They married in the Cayman Islands in January 2008 and by August of that year he still hadn’t declared his change in circumstances to the council or DWP.
Mr Chapman said to Holden he had been quite candid about the fact he had not declared to the DWP and council about the changes after he was elected.
He asked Holden why.
"To be perfectly honest I never even thought about it. We were so tied up with what had happened. It was still very raw and I was busy as a councillor."
Asked about his political affiliations Holden said he had been involved in the Labour Party since he was 16.
"I’m a devout socialist. I’m not a Blairite. I don’t recognise New Labour."
The trial continues.
