HC Deb 23 April 1993 vol 223 c246W
Mr. O'Neill

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which bodies his Department consulted prior to his announcement of changes in the North sea oil tax regime.

Mr. Dorrell

My officials keep in regular contact with representative bodies and individual oil companies. But they were not consulted on specific Budget proposals. Advance consultation on budgetary measures of this sort would have created uncertainty likely severely to have disrupted investment and tax yield.