May to consider VAT axe for fire crews and police
SCOTLAND’S emergency services are hoping for a multimillion- pound boost after Theresa May confirmed she will consider scrapping the need for them to pay VAT.
The Prime Minister yesterday gave the strongest signal yet that next week’s Budget could provide a duty exemption for Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
They are the only emergency bodies in Britain which need to pay VAT on purchases – and have faced a £140million bill since 2013.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs May blamed the SNP for landing the services with the bill because of the way both bodies were set up.
She pledged to ‘look at’ the issue – adding that ministers have been pressed on the matter by Scottish Conservative MPs.
Questioned about the tax by SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, Mrs May said: ‘ Officials in Her Majesty’s Treasury will look at this issue and they will report on it in due course.
‘Very constructive representations have been made by my Scottish colleagues on the Conservative benches on this particular issue.
‘Let us just be clear – because the right honourable gentleman knows this – that before the Scottish Government made the decision to make Scotland’s police and fire services national rather than regional bodies, they were told that this would mean that they would become ineligible for VAT refunds, and they pressed ahead despite knowing that.’
The services have had to pay VAT since the SNP’s decision to merge regional bodies, which were eligible for an exemption, into single national services in 2013.
The SNP has been campaigning for the exemption to be extended – and won support from several Scottish Tory politicians.
Mr Blackford told Mrs May his party ‘would not give up’ and urged her to take action.
He said: ‘Scottish fire and police are the only forces in the United Kingdom to be c harged VAT, depriving frontline services of £140million since 2013.
‘The SNP has raised this issue 30 times in this Chamber. Will the UK Government now give Scotland’s emergency services our £140million back and scrap the VAT?
‘This has been a long-standing SNP campaign and we will not give up.’
Scottish Labour published figures last month showing that an extra 550 police officers and 220 firefighters could have been hired by the SNP if they had not forfeited the VAT rebate by making the two services national bodies.
It has previously been suggested that Ruth Davidson made a direct plea to the Treasury to extend the VAT exemption.
Last month Stephen Barclay, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said the influence on the Budget of Miss Davidson and her Scottish Tory MPs would be clear.
He said: ‘Ruth Davidson will have a huge impact on the Budget, both through her leadership in Scotland but also through the formidable 13 Conservative MPs, who have already been lobbying vigorously in the Treasury, ensuring that the voice of Scotland is very much heard at Westminster.’
‘Treasury will look at issue’