§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many applications for value added tax registration were outstanding at the Orpington value added tax office at the most recent convenient date;
(2) what steps he is taking to reduce the backlog of value added tax registration applications at the Orpington value added tax office;
(3) what is the current delay in obtaining a value added tax regisration number from the Orpington value added tax office.
§ Mr. BrookeAs at I April 1986 Orpington local VAT office had 192 applications for VAT registration in the course of processing. This represents a reduction of more than 100 when compared with the position 12 months earlier. Customs and Excise will continue to look for further improvement and to provide the best service possible consistent with the safeguarding of the revenue. under normal circumstances a VAT registration number is issued by the Orpington office between three and 10 days after the application is received.