SNP and Tories claim credit for VAT shift
PHILIP Hammond is expected to concede the case for making Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire Service exempt from VAT in Wednesday’s Westminster Budget.
But the move has left the Scottish Tories and the SNP squabbling over who should get the credit.
The Chancellor is due to announce a settlement to end the row – which means the services will no longer face the £30million-a-year VAT bill which followed the creation of Police Scotland and the unified fire service.
The SNP Government were warned by HMRC at the time that the national police force and fire service they created would not be exempt from VAT – but they have been pressing hard for an exemption for several years.
Now, with 12 new Scottish Conservative MPs in the Commons, Ruth Davidson is claiming credit for making the merged services VAT-free.
The issue was raised at Prime Minister’s Questions last week by SNP leader Ian Blackford. He said getting the reimbursement had been a long-standing SNP campaign, adding: “We will not give up.”
In response, Theresa May said: “Very constructive representations have been made by my Scottish colleagues on the Conservative benches on this particular issue.”
A senior Conservative source said: “This shows the difference in approach taken by the SNP MPs and the Scottish Tory group.”