§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions and on what dates, the joint working group appointed to review the construction industry scheme, met; and if minutes of its meeting will be published. [140358]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe Joint Working Group met eight times. The dates it sat on were the 11 April, 3 May, 17 May, 31 May, 14 June, 21 June, 17 July and 10 August.
The group was set up so that the industry and the Revenue could share their concerns and build up an overall picture of how best to reduce the administrative costs of the construction industry scheme while continuing to protect the flow of tax and NI to the Exchequer. The group does not intend to publish the minutes of its meetings, as this may not only breach confidentiality but put tax at risk.
However, the Joint Working Group was clear that the route to a cheaper but secure scheme lay in the electronic exchange of information. The initial steps taken towards 480W an electronic future and what further work will now be done is given in Inland Revenue Press Release (PR REV6/2000) published on 8 November.