§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what consideration he is giving to compensating charities working to help disabled people for the value added tax they have to pay by awarding them grants of the same amount in support of the services they provide; and if he will discuss means of overcoming the effects of the increased rate of value added tax with representatives of all the voluntary organisations concerned.
§ Mr. RossiThe Department gives grants to a wide range of voluntary organisations, many of which help disabled people. Grants of this kind take account of a variety of circumstances, and we do not propose to consider basing the amounts awarded on an organisation's tax liabilities. Value added tax and its impact on charities are matters for my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer who, in his Budget Statement on 26 March 1980—[Vol. 981, c. 1480]—announced substantial fiscal measures to help charities increase their donation income and, as proposed in his recent Budget Statement on 10 March 1981—[Vol. 1000, c. 770]—has extended certain existing VAT reliefs for the disabled and the charities serving them.