§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether the Inland Revenue is making preparations for the merger of the taxes staff group with the collection staff group;
(2) whether he is taking steps to test the practicality of merging tax audit offices with tax assessment offices;
(3) whether he intends to prepare for the merging of tax assessment offices with tax collection offices; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RidleyI assume that the hon. Member has in mind the proposals in the recent Inland Revenue review of the collection service. This proposes that the taxes and collection staff groups should be merged and suggests that, as a quite separate matter, experiments should be conducted in the merging of tax collection offices and PAYE Audit into local tax districts. Final decisions on the review's proposals, including decisions on all these matters, have not yet been taken. A copy of the review is in the House of Commons Library.