Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has consulted with representatives of (a) lenders, (b) business, (c) consumer groups and (d) other relevant stakeholders on his decision at the 2018 Budget to make HMRC a secondary preferential creditor in corporate insolvencies (i) before and (ii) after that decision was made.

In line with the Government’s commitment to open and consultative policy making, the Government regularly engages with a wide variety of stakeholders to ensure policy changes are well informed and based upon the best available evidence.

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. The Government has already held discussions with UK Finance (the representative body for the banking and finance industry), the Insolvency Service, and R3 (the representative body for insolvency practitioners) as part of this consultation process.