§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications for 714 tax certificates have been refused since the introduction of the scheme; and what has been the cost of administering the scheme since it started.
§ Mr. Peter Rees,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 25 July 1979; Vol. 971, c.288],gave the following answer:
I assume my hon. Friend is referring to the arrangements which came into force in April 1977.
From April 1977 until 5 July 1979, about 47,000 applications had been refused but, in many cases, a subsequent re-application has been successful.
The estimated total cost of the new scheme for the four years ended 5 April 1979 was approximately £11.2 million. There has been a considerable saving in staff compared with the numbers required for the earlier arrangements.