Last year an investigation by Exaro News found that Lester’s £182,000 salary at the SLC was being paid into a private company – an arrangement that allowed him to minimise his personal tax liabilities.
A spokesperson confirmed that Lester’s £135,000 salary at the Land Registry will be paid through the organisation’s payroll.
Following the abolition of UKBA, Sarah Rapson has been appointed as the interim head of UK Visas and Immigration, a new Home Office ‘command’. Her job as chief executive of the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) will be filled on an interim basis by Paul Pugh, who is currently the agency’s director of operations.
David Wood, the former director of operations for UKBA, will become the interim head of Immigration Enforcement, the second Home Office ‘command’.
Meanwhile, former work and pensions permanent secretary Sir Leigh Lewis has joined the University of Greenwich Business School as a visiting fellow. He will be researching leadership, third sector service delivery, and welfare reform.