asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, pursuant to his answer of 22 February, he will give the reasons why he will not consider making any changes in the present policy on value added tax payable by registered charities conditional upon charities publicly declaring the amounts paid in salaries and expenses to their employees with salaries above £10,000, the percentage of their total funds spent on administration, and whether or not it employs professional fund raisers.

I appreciate that the hon. Member is concerned about the way in which some charities have been reported as spending their money, but it would not be appropriate to make any changes in the VAT treatment of charities conditional upon complex criteria which are not related to the tax itself. The Charity Commissioners have the power to ask for the accounts of registered charities and those accounts would be available for public inspection.