§ Mr. Brothertonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the total number of applications for 714 tax exemption certificates since the inception of the scheme; and what is the total number that has ben granted.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI presume that the hon. Member is referring to applications under the provisionos of the 1975 Act. At 8th June 1978, approximately 426,000 applications had been received. This includes 33,000 renewal applications,304W virtually all of which had been or will shortly be approved. Of the 393,000 original applications, 328,000 had been approved and 38,000 refused. The remaining 27,000 included some 22,000 which had not been pursued and the balance had only recently been received or were awaiting action by the applicants to put their affairs in order.