Sammy Wilson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sammy Wilson on 2015-10-22.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department has spent to date on legal fees in respect of the case against the Aggregates Levy brought by the British Aggregates Association.

Damian Hinds

The lawfulness of the Aggregates Levy been challenged in the UK and European courts for over thirteen years by the British Aggregates Association. No court has ever found the levy to be unlawful.

The legal challenges have also caused many years of uncertainty for industry, and have prevented the government from making any significant changes to the levy.

The government’s legal costs are not finalised and are continuing to rise. This should be viewed against over £4 billion (and rising) in levy revenue that the government’s defence is protecting.