§ Mr. Fauldsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give instructions to the commissioners of Inland Revenue that, when exercising their option to waive interest charges in respect of the value of works of art and museum objects accepted in satisfaction of capital transfer tax for the period from the date of the receipt of an offer until its acceptance, they are to regard the merits of a particular case as being prima fade established retrospectively by the acceptance of an object and that refusal to waive interest charges in respect of such acceptances should only occur if the time consumed between offer and acceptance is judged to be due in substance to other causes than the transacting of the necessary departmental procedures.
§ Mr. Peter ReesThe hon. Gentleman will be aware that one of the recommendations made in the third report from the Expenditure Committee—Environment Sub-Committee—of Session 1977–78 related to this point; as my right hon. Friend said in reply to the hon. Gentleman on 15 June, we shall be considering the future of the National Land Fund in the light of these recommendations, and the Sub-Committee's views about the statutory interest charge will be borne in mind in the course of this consideration.