§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of Monday 18 January 1982, Official Report, c.89, if he will give his reasons why he will not initiate a system of payment by senior civil servants when using the Government car service to take them to and from their homes and offices, or railway stations, on a cost basis; and whether these benfits are taxed.
§ Mr. HayhoeWhen permanent secretaries use official cars for these purposes they do so in the circumstances referred to in paragraph 234a of the Civil Service pay and conditions code—a copy of which is in the Library. They therefore do so in the public interest and it would not be appropriate to levy payment from them. The tax treatment of this use of official cars is exactly the same as that for cars provided for employees generally: because the cars are pooled cars and their use for home-to-work travel is incidental to their official use, there is no liability to tax.