To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 November 2008, Official Report, columns 46-47WS, on value added tax, whether he still plans to raise the rate of value added tax to 17.5 per cent. on 1 January 2010. (293960)

As originally announced in the 2008 pre-Budget report and confirmed in Budget 2009 and the Finance Act 2009, the standard rate of VAT will revert to 17.5 per cent. from midnight on 31 December 2009.