§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list(a) those health trusts which charge VAT for meals they provide as part of a meals on wheels service and (b) those that do not. [21137]
§ Mr. BoatengThe Department collects information on the number of meals prepared and supplied by the National Health Service as part of a meals on wheels service. In the annual collection carried out in autumn 1996, the following local authorities used the NHS to supply some of their meals on wheels: Leicestershire, Surrey, Devon, Somerset, Staffordshire, Calderdale, Stockport, East Riding, and North Yorkshire.
The information collected centrally does not, however, cover the way in which the NHS charges the local authority for these meals.