§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy concerning the provision to credit reference agencies of information concerning the non-payment of value added tax; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Lilley[holding answer 13 March 1989]: Information held by Customs and Excise about the VAT affairs of registered traders is confidential and is not disclosed to credit agencies.
§ Mr. David PorterTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for each of the past 10 years the number of new businesses which have registered for value added tax in Waveney.
§ Mr. Lilley[holding answer 13 March 1989]: I regret that statistics are not maintained on a district basis. The local VAT office at Ipswich covers not only the Waveney constituency but the area which includes Ipswich itself, Felixstowe, Newmarket and Bury St. Edmunds. The number of VAT registrations processed by that office for each of the calendar years 1979 to 1988 was:
Year New registrations 1979 1,612 1980 1,497 1981 1,726 1982 1,528 1983 1,557 1984 2,321 1985 2,094 1986 2,180 1987 2,324 1988 2,826