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Loan Charge Meetings around the HoC debate

Mike Howard made this Freedom of Information request to HM Revenue and Customs Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.

We're waiting for Mike Howard to read a recent response and update the status.

Dear HM Revenue and Customs,

My request pertains to discussions regarding the Loan Charge, a subject of considerable public interest, especially following the recent debate in Parliament on 18 January 2024.

Specifically, I seek details on meetings that involved any of the directors of HMRC where the Loan Charge was a topic of discussion. The timeframe of interest for these meetings is from 8 January 2024 to 25 January 2024. Additionally, I am interested in any such meetings during this period that included the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (FST) or the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

For each meeting, please provide the following information:

1. The date and location of the meeting.
2. The names and titles of HMRC directors who attended.
3. The names and titles of any other attendees, including any representatives of the FST or the Chancellor.
4. The agenda or key points of discussion related to the Loan Charge.
5. Minutes or summaries of the discussions about the Loan Charge.
6. Any decisions or actions agreed upon regarding the Loan Charge.

I understand that under the Act, I should be entitled to a response within 20 working days of your receipt of this letter.

Thank you for considering my request. I look forward to your prompt response.

Yours faithfully,

Mike Howard

Information Rights Unit, HM Revenue and Customs

Our ref: FOI2024/05474

Dear Mike Howard,

Thank you for your request, which was received on 24 January.

Please remember to quote the reference number above if you need to contact
us about this request again.

We aim to respond to all freedom of information requests within 20 working
days. We will either send you the information you have asked for or let
you know why we can't.

If we can't reply by 21 February 2024, we will write to let you know the
reason and when you can expect a response.

Yours sincerely

HMRC Information Rights Unit

Information Rights Unit, HM Revenue and Customs

1 Attachment

Dear Mike Howard

The date that the response is due for your request, FOI2024/05474, has
been changed to 20th March

Please see the attached letter for more information.

Kind Regards

HMRC Freedom of Information team

Information Rights Unit, HM Revenue and Customs

Dear Mr Howard

I am writing to update you on the status of your FOI request and to
apologise for our delay in issuing a response.

In dealing with all FOI requests HMRC works to the standard set by the
independent Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is to deal with
at least 90% of FOI requests within 20 working days of receipt. While we
meet this target most of time, there are some cases that take longer than
20 days to process (for example, because of their complexity). Your FOI
request is one such case.

On 20 February I applied an extension to the deadline of a further 20
working days to consider the exemption at section 35(1)(a) of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 where we need to consider where the balance of the
public interest lies. Your case will take longer to process.

I want to assure you that we are still working on your request and aim to
provide a reply shortly. I will update you further should we not be able
to issue our response within the next fortnight.

Kind regards

HMRC Information Rights Unit

Dear Information Rights Unit,

Thank you for the update, but you have now taken more than twice the amount of time that the law provides for providing this information.

As you have stated section 35 requires a public interest test. It is difficult to understand why this test has taken so long and undermines the trust the public have in this process.

Given the massive amount of current interest from the main stream media, tv news, and the general public, I would have thought that any argument would sway massively in favour of disclosure.

I would have also thought that the interest of 67,000 people afflicted by this policy and their health would weigh in favour of disclosure. Of course the ten who have committed suicide are no longer here to present their case, but would have thought that the risk of further suicides caused by this despicable policy should be foremost in the minds of the person who is providing the public interest test opinion.

In short, I am not assured.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Howard

Information Rights Unit, HM Revenue and Customs

Dear Mr Howard

I am writing to update you on the status of your FOI request and to
apologise for our delay in issuing a response.

In dealing with all FOI requests HMRC works to the standard set by the
independent Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is to deal with
at least 90% of FOI requests within 20 working days of receipt. While we
meet this target most of time, there are some cases that take longer than
20 days to process (for example, because of their complexity). Your FOI
request is one such case.

On 20 February I applied an extension to the deadline of a further 20
working days to consider the exemption at section 35(1)(a) of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 where we need to consider where the balance of the
public interest lies. Your case will take longer to process.

I want to assure you that we are still working on your request and aim to
provide a reply shortly. I will update you further should we not be able
to issue our response within the next fortnight.

Kind regards

HMRC Information Rights Unit

Dear Information Rights Unit,

24/1/2024 - Initial FOI raised (20 days)
21/2/2024 - HMRC declare extension to 20/3/2024 (20 days)
20/3/2024 - HMRC declare extension of a further 2 weeks (10 days)
3/4/2024 - HMRC declare extension of a further 2 weeks

This appears to be breaking the law.

A complaint will be raised with the ICO.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Howard

Information Rights Unit, HM Revenue and Customs

Dear Mr Howard

I am writing to update you on the status of your FOI request and to
further apologise for our delay in issuing a response.

In dealing with all FOI requests HMRC works to the standard set by the
independent Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is to deal with
at least 90% of FOI requests within 20 working days of receipt. While we
meet this target most of time, there are some cases that take longer than
20 days to process (for example, because of their complexity). Your FOI
request is one such case.

I applied an extension to the deadline of a further 20 working days to
consider the the exemption at section 35(1)(a) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 where we need to consider where the balance of the
public interest lies. Your case will take longer to process.

I want to assure you that we are still working on your request and aim to
provide a reply shortly. I will update you further should we not be able
to issue our response within the next fortnight.

Kind regards

HMRC Information Rights Unit

Dear Information Rights Unit,

HMRC ARE BREAKING THE LAW.
This request was raised on 24 January which is now 91 calendar days and 64 working days since the request was raised

24/1/2024 - Initial FOI raised (20 days)
21/2/2024 - HMRC declare extension to 20/3/2024 (20 days)
20/3/2024 - HMRC declare extension of a further 2 weeks (10 days)
3/4/2024 - HMRC declare extension of a further 2 weeks
17/4/2024 - HMRC declare extension of a further 2 weeks.

There can be no further excuses for the length of time this is taking. It obviously gives the impression that something very serious is being withheld by HMRC.

A further complaint will be raised with the ICO.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Howard

Information Rights Unit, HM Revenue and Customs

2 Attachments

Dear Mike Howard,

We are writing in response to your request for information, received 24
January.

Yours sincerely,

HMRC Freedom of Information Team

Dear HM Revenue and Customs,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of HM Revenue and Customs's handling of my FOI request 'Loan Charge Meetings around the HoC debate'.

HMRC have withheld information using section 36. They have undertaken a public interest test.
1) I do not accept that it is more in the public interest to withhold this information than it is to release it. This was the subject of a debate in the House of Commons. Members of all parties were challenging the Loan Charge and its impact. The only dissent was from Nigel Huddleston (FST) who was clearly reading from a paper prepared by HMT/HMRC.
The impact of the Loan Charge affects directly 67,000 people, combining that with their families this means that approximately 200,000 are affected.
It has also resulted in the deaths of members of the public, 10 confirmed suicides related directly to the policy
There have also been 13 attempted suicides, alongside countless cases of mental illness, physical illness, marriage breakdowns.
It does not seem appropriate in these circumstances to withhold material that has caused such material damage. The public want to be assured that HMRC/HMT are working to reduce the likelihood of further damage and the withholding of this information clearly goes against that.

2) Provide details of the person approving the use of section 36 to withhold data in this FOI request

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...

Yours faithfully,

Mike Howard

Information Rights Unit, HM Revenue and Customs

Our ref: IR2024/60096

Dear Mike Howard,

Thank you for your request, which was received on 14 May.

Please remember to quote the reference number above if you need to contact
us about this request again.

We aim to respond to all freedom of information requests within 20 working
days. We will either send you the information you have asked for or let
you know why we can't.

If we can't reply by 12 June 2024, we will write to let you know the
reason and when you can expect a response.

Yours sincerely

HMRC Information Rights Unit

Information Rights Unit, HM Revenue and Customs

Dear Mike Howard

I am writing to update you on the status of your Internal Review request
and to apologise for our delay in issuing a response.

I want to assure you that we are still working on your request and aim to
provide a reply shortly.

Kind regards

HMRC Information Rights Unit

Dear Information Rights Unit,

Thank you for your update on the 9/8/24 stating that you are still working on the internal review.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) guidance recommends that public authorities should aim to complete the internal review within 20 working days from the date of the request for a review.

In some more complex cases, this period may be extended to up to 40 working days, but this should be the exception rather than the norm. The authority should inform the requester if the review is likely to take longer than 20 working days and explain the reason for the delay.

But -
This internal review was started on the 15/5/24. It is now more than 3 months since it was started. By my calculation 70 working days.

Please provide a response within the next 7 days or I will have to raise a complaint with the ICO

Yours sincerely,

Mike Howard

Information Rights Unit, HM Revenue and Customs

2 Attachments

Dear Mike Howard,

We are writing in response to your request for information, received 14
May.

Yours sincerely,

HMRC Information Rights Unit

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Mike Howard please sign in and let everyone know.