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Written Question
Defibrillators: VAT
Monday 2nd October 2023

Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost to the taxpayer of removing VAT on all defibrillator purchases.

Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)

The government has not made a robust assessment of the cost to the taxpayer of removing VAT on all defibrillator purchases.

The Government provides support to aid the purchase of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) through VAT refunds on purchases made by local authorities and VAT reliefs for purchases made through voluntary contributions, where the AED is donated to eligible charities or the NHS. Otherwise, they attract the standard rate of VAT.

The Department of Health and Social Care are examining whether there are ways to further expand public access to defibrillators.

The Government keeps all taxes under constant review.


Written Question
Defibrillators: VAT
Monday 2nd October 2023

Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much VAT was collected on defibrillator purchases in (1) 2020, (2) 2021, and (3) 2022.

Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)

HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on VAT revenue from specific products or services, including VAT on defibrillators. This is because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level within their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.


Written Question
Loans: Lebanon
Monday 13th July 2020

Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that the IMF's support for Lebanon (1) is subject to strict oversight and monitoring, and (2) has mechanisms in place to ensure it is not misspent.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

IMF programmes in general are subject to strict policies of oversight and monitoring, underpinned by well-established mechanisms.

Under its Articles of Agreement, the IMF must establish adequate safeguards for the use of its resources. IMF lending requires safeguards covering key areas of governance and control to help mitigate the risks of misuse of Fund resources and misreporting of data. These safeguards may include limits on how much can be borrowed, conditions on the loans, measures to deal with misreporting or arrears, and safeguard assessments of central banks.

The UK uses its seat at the IMF’s Board to help shape these policies and ensure that they are applied across all the IMF’s lending arrangements.