§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements are being made to exclude the tax affairs of the royal family and hon. Members, currently administered by the Inland Revenue at Shipley in west Yorkshire, from being administered by a third party under the market-testing arrangements; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. DorrellNo such arrangements are necessary. If activities involving the processing, handling or holding of tax information at Shipley or elsewhere, were to be transferred to a private sector organisation, the Inland Revenue would remain responsible for continuing to ensure proper standards of privacy and confidentiality for all citizens including the royal family and hon. Members. In addition to contractual safeguards, the contracting organisation and its employees would be subject, in the same way as Inland Revenue employees, to the criminal sanctions—a fine or imprisonment or both—provided by section 182 of the Finance Act 1989 for unauthorised disclosure of taxpayer personal information.
Confidentiality is not a bar to market testing; a lot of highly sensitive Government work is done by the private sector. But the Inland Revenue would need to be sure that an outside contractor could replicate existing security procedures and conditions.