Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on (a) business lending and (b) business rescue of the decision at the 2018 Budget to make HMRC a secondary preferential creditor in insolvencies.

The Government published an assessment of the impact of the decision to make HMRC a secondary preferential creditor in insolvencies in the “Protecting Your Taxes in Insolvency” policy paper issued with the Budget on 29 October 2018. The Government is currently consulting on the detailed policy design for this measure to ensure the changes work as intended. The consultation closes on 27 May and the Government is encouraging financial services businesses, lenders and insolvency practitioners to respond.