HC Deb 15 March 1990 vol 169 cc657-8
14. Mr. Key

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are currently employed in Inland Revenue valuation offices.

Mr. Lilley

There are 5,748 staff currently employed in the Inland Revenue valuation offices.

Mr. Key

Given the many appeals against business revaluations in my constituency and throughout rural England, is my hon. Friend satisfied that the valuation offices can cope with the increase in revaluations and appeals effectively and to the advantage of the taxpayer?

Mr. Lilley

We are confident that the burden of revaluations and appeals will be met by the valuation offices. I appreciate that my hon. Friend has a problem with the local valuation office that is due to close in Salisbury. I assure him, however, that his constituents will be served satisfactorily from Swindon and Southampton.

Mr. Skinner

Is the Minister aware that the Inland Revenue is being swindled out of £1 million a day by employers who are taking insurance contributions and not passing them over to the relevant authorities? Is he further aware that if the Government used as many inspectors to follow those employers as they do to hound one-parent families out of their DSS benefit, they would retrieve much-needed money for the Exchequer?

Mr. Lilley

I must tell the hon. Gentleman that that is not the responsibility of the valuation offices. I rather thought that he would ask whether the valuation offices would be able to cope with revaluing everybody's house every year according to its rising capital value if a roof tax were imposed. I have to tell him that they would not be able to cope, and nor would the British people.

Mr. Roger King

My hon. Friend took my supplementary question out of my mouth with his latter comments. As the point bears repeating, will he estimate how many people it would require to value every property in every street to implement a roof tax?

Mr. Lilley

My hon. Friend clearly has powers of telepathy. I am grateful to him for prompting me. I assure him that it would need armies of valuation officers to revalue everyone's house every year to impose an ever-rising roof tax on them. It would put taxation through the roof.