HC Deb 20 January 1999 vol 323 c480W
Mr. Charles Kennedy

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if Miller Dywidag Joint Venture is registered for the purposes of VAT. [66338]

Dawn Primarolo

[holding answer 18 January 1999]: Under provisions of the Finance Act 1989 and the Official Secrets Act 1989, we are prohibited from disclosing personal information from the VAT register without the permission of the taxpayer unless it can be demonstrated that it is in the public interest to do so. If the hon. Member would like to provide details of the reasons for his question, I shall consider whether there are grounds for disclosing this information to him.