HL Deb 18 November 1981 vol 425 cc505-6

2.49 p.m.

Lord Spens

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how far the backlog of claims for refunds of VAT from small businesses, arising during the period of the Civil Service strike, has been cleared.

The Minister of State, Treasury (Lord Cockfield)

My Lords, we greatly regret the inconvenience caused to traders by the industrial action. Since this ended, some 600,000 claims have been repaid, and I am glad to assure the noble Lord that we are now virtually up to date. Every possible effort is being made to clear the small residue of claims which have been held up because queries are outstanding.

Lord Spens

My Lords, I thank the Minister very much for that reply. If I may, I should like to congratulate the staff of the Customs and Excise, who have caught up so well. Are there going to be any special arrangements to deal with claims which appear to have been mislaid?

Lord Cockfield

My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble Lord for what he says. We all greatly appreciate the efforts that the staff have made to clear this considerable backlog of work. The number of claims still outstanding amounts to only 1,200, which is a very small proportion of the 600,000 repaid. If there is any individual case of which the noble Lord is aware which has, as he suggests, been mislaid or otherwise unduly delayed, I should be happy to look into the matter if he would let me have particulars.