§ Mr. Winnickasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity to what extent her Department has cleared the accumulated arrears of claims for refunds of Selective Employment Tax.
§ Mr. HattersleyAs I informed the hon. Members for Dudley (Mr. Donald Williams) and Birmingham, Edgbaston (Mrs. Knight) on 24th February, I arranged last month for a computer with greater spare capacity to handle these claims. I am glad to say that this has proved successful. During the current financial year it will now be possible to refund tax payments of some £17 million more than the existing Estimates assumed, and to make an increase of about £3 million in the volume of premium payments. All arrears will have been cleared by the end of the month.—[Vol. 778, c. 194–5.]