§ Mr. David HowellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures are used by Her Majesty's Government to assess the backlog of work or the degree of delay in the handling of personal tax affairs in the various tax districts; what, by the measures used, is the trend in the level of backlog over a recent convenient period; and whether he will publish separate figures for the various tax districts.
§ Mr. LilleyThe principal measure used to assess the backlog of work in tax districts is the regular count of papers on hand that have been awaiting attention for more than 14 days and two months.
The unworked papers over 14 days old at April during the period 1985 to 1989 were:
Number April 1985 1,983,000 April 1986 1,354,000 April 1987 172,000 April 1988 70,000 April 1989 82,000 The position in April 1990 is expected to be broadly similar to that in April 1989.
105WThere are no plans to publish separate figures for the individual tax districts.