§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the financial benefits accruing to the Inland Revenue as a result of the tax status of Mapeley Steps Ltd; [74490]
(2) what revenue the Treasury has received as a result of the decision to sell Inland Revenue buildings to Mapeley Steps Ltd and what was the value of alternative bids received; [74487]
(3) when (a) he and (b) the Paymaster General were informed of the decision to sell Inland Revenue buildings to Mapeley Steps Limited; and when he was informed of the announcement by the Inland Revenue that the company was based in Britain. [74489]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise "STEPS" competition was announced in August 1998. The two Departments' contract with the Mapeley consortium was signed on 6 March 2001 after a full procurement exercise.
A joint Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise press release dated 9 March 2001 inadvertently referred to assets being transferred to Mapeley Ltd, a UK registered company, rather than Mapeley STEPS Ltd which is registered in Bermuda. Subsequently, a separate press statement has corrected this. Ministers were not aware of the registration of Mapeley STEPS Ltd at the time of the March 2001 press notice.
The STEPS contract with the Mapeley consortium provided for the payment of £220 million to the Departments together with a further £150 million to be reflected in lower service prices. Details of the rival bids are, as is customary, commercially confidential. However, the competition to establish which bidder offered best value for money included rigorous examination of all factors relevant under the appropriate UK and European rules. By convention, the tax affairs of individual companies are not disclosed to Ministers. No separate assessment has been made of the effect of the tax status of Mapeley STEPS Ltd.