§ Mr. AllanTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what procedures are used by his Department to follow up decisions by the Parliamentary Ombudsman on malpractice by the Inland Revenue. [145797]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe Inland Revenue always tries to make positive use of the Parliamentary Ombudsman's findings. Where a taxpayer has suffered injustice, the Inland Revenue will put matters right and, where appropriate, pay compensation.
Where the Ombudsman's findings point to a more general problem, or a defect in the Department's systems and processes, his comments and recommendations are made available to officials responsible for that particular area of work, so that any lessons learnt from the case can be used when planning and reviewing the Department's business.