§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action his Department is taking to mitigate the effects of the present industrial action 53W by civil servants on textile companies' cash flows caused by delays in dealing with value added tax returns, and delays in repaying value added tax on exports.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 15 March 1979; Vol. 964, c. 277], gave the following reply:
The VAT computer at Southend is shut down by industrial action. Customs and Excise regret that they are therefore unable for the time being to make repayments of VAT. They are trying to ensure that on the termination of industrial action repayments are resumed as quickly as possible.