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Selection of Loan Charge Review Expert Panel
Source: WhatDoTheyKnow
Authority: HM Revenue and Customs
Status: The request was
refused
by
HM Revenue and Customs
.
Imported path: /opt/loancharge/imports/wdtk/requests/selection_of_loan_charge_review
Open original request on WhatDoTheyKnow
Imported text
SOURCE: WhatDoTheyKnow
SOURCE_URL: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/selection_of_loan_charge_review
TITLE: Selection of Loan Charge Review Expert Panel
AUTHORITY: HM Revenue and Customs
AUTHORITY_URL: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/body/hmrc
STATUS: The request was
refused
by
HM Revenue and Customs
.
REQUEST_SLUG: selection_of_loan_charge_review
CAPTURED_AT: 2026-05-19T07:06:04+00:00
PROVENANCE: {"first_seen_at": "2026-05-18T12:53:21", "first_seen_page": "1", "first_query_term": "\"Loan Charge\"", "first_date_after": "2020/01/01", "first_date_before": "2021/01/01", "matched_query_terms": "\"Amyas Morse\" | \"Loan Charge\"", "matched_date_ranges": "2001/01/01 to 2027/01/01 | 2020/01/01 to 2021/01/01 | 2021/01/01 to 2022/01/01", "first_search_url_template": "https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/search/%22Loan%20Charge%22/requests?commit=Filter&query=%22Loan+Charge%22&request_date_after=2020%2F01%2F01&request_date_before=2021%2F01%2F01&request_variety%5B%5D=sent&request_variety%5B%5D=response&request_variety%5B%5D=comment&sortby=&utf8=%E2%9C%93&page="}
ATTACHMENTS:
- FOI2020_02985.pdf | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/selection_of_loan_charge_review/response/1691539/attach/3/FOI2020%2002985.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1 | application/pdf | 204832 bytes
- [not downloaded] | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/selection_of_loan_charge_review/response/1691539/attach/html/3/FOI2020%2002985.pdf.html | | 0 bytes
- IR2020_03461.pdf | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/selection_of_loan_charge_review/response/1705820/attach/3/IR2020%2003461.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1 | application/pdf | 208639 bytes
- [not downloaded] | https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/selection_of_loan_charge_review/response/1705820/attach/html/3/IR2020%2003461.pdf.html | | 0 bytes
================================================================================
MESSAGE 1 [outgoing]
HEADER: Stephen Campbell
23 November 2020
Delivered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear HM Revenue and Customs,
I am asking HMRC to publish any and all communications (EMail, SMS text, WhatApp, and other written correspondence) between any of HMRC, HMT the Sir Amyas Morse LCR team that relates to the selection of members of the "expert panel" that would act as a sounding board for the review findings. Specifically, I would ask for the following information to be shared, noting that individual names can be redacted whilst enabling the substance of the debate around their suitability or otherwise to be published:
1. Please share all EMail and other written correspondence involving any and all of HMRC, HMT and the Amyas Morse Loan Charge Review team that discusses the selection of expert panel members.
2. Please share ALL information held by HMRC or HMT that makes clear the qualifications held by the selected individuals who ended up on the expert panel
3. Please share ALL minutes of meetings held to discuss the composition of the expert panel that involved some or all of HMRCm HMT and LCR staff
4. Please share ALL minutes of meetings held between expert panel members and Sir Amyas Morse
5. Please share copies of any and ALL written submissions provided to Sur Amyas Morse and his team by members of the expert panel, including any drafts of such submissions that may have been shared with HMRC and.or HMT staff and subsequently amended prior to submission to Sir Amyas Morse and his team
6. Please share all drafting changes to submissions made by expert panel members that were sent to HMRC and/or HMT staff prior to submission ti Sir Amyas Morse and his tre
7. Please share information HMRC, HMT or LCR hold that confirms how much each of the participants in the expert panel was remunerated for their participation in this process
8. Please share all Emails and other written correspondence between Sir Amyas Morse and his team on draft versions of the Loan Charge Review report which were shared with HMRC and HMT staff for comment in advance of the initial drafting. Please include any and all marked-up versions of the report that went back and forth between any and all parties involved
9. Please share copies of all witness statements (or minutes of meetings with witnesses) which were shared with Sir Amyas Morse and his team
Thank you
Yours faithfully,
Stephen Campbell
================================================================================
MESSAGE 2 [incoming]
HEADER: no-reply@hmrc.ecase.gsi.gov.uk on behalf of FOI Central Team,
HM Revenue and Customs
23 November 2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our ref: FOI2020/02985
Dear Mr Campbell,
Freedom of Information Act 2000 Acknowledgement
Thank you for your communication of 23rd November which has been passed to
HMRC's Freedom of Information Team.
We have allocated the above reference which you should quote if you need
to contact us.
The Team will arrange for a reply to be sent to you which will either
comply with HMRC's obligations under Freedom of Information Act or, if we
think it's an enquiry that we don't need to address under the terms of the
Act, let you know why. If it is the latter we will, if possible, pass it
on to a more appropriate part of the Department for answer.
As you will appreciate, the coronavirus pandemic has provided
unprecedented challenges for Government Departments including HMRC. Over
the coming weeks our priorities are to provide critical existing and new
Public Services for Government to support customers during this difficult
time. As a result, resources may be diverted away from usual compliance or
information rights work. HMRC aims to respond to all FOIA Requests within
20 working days. If for whatever reason this timescale cannot be complied
with HMRC will, where possible, write to you explaining the reason for the
delay and providing an estimated time for response.
Yours sincerely
HMRC Freedom of Information Act Team
================================================================================
MESSAGE 3 [incoming]
HEADER: no-reply@hmrc.ecase.gsi.gov.uk on behalf of FOI Team,
HM Revenue and Customs
14 December 2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Attachment
FOI2020 02985.pdf
200K
View
Download
Dear Mr Campbell,
We are writing in response to your request for information, received 23
November.
Yours sincerely,
HMRC Freedom of Information Team
================================================================================
MESSAGE 4 [outgoing]
HEADER: Stephen Campbell
15 December 2020
Delivered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear HM Revenue and Customs,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of HM Revenue and Customs's handling of my FOI request 'Selection of Loan Charge Review Expert Panel'.
I note that the response cited section 21 of the FOIA and pointed me at FOI2020 00053. Having reviewed the response to that FOI, it does indeed overlap with some, but not all, of the information I have requested. Specifically, the interactions that took place concerning the suitability or otherwise of the expert panel members. I will overlook that for the time being.
There is one glaring aspect of the response I received that demands further investigation and a formal FOI review as to its handling. This based on the following paragraph in the response
A small number of government officials in HMRC and HM Treasury were provided early sight
of the Independent Loan Charge Review under strict and controlled conditions. This was to
correct any factual errors ahead of publication and was provided in hard copy. All copies
were returned to Sir Amyas Morse and the Review team and HMRC did not retain any
copies.
The suggestion that an electronic document was printed off and marked up in pen/pencil before being handed back, having had "factual errors" corrected, with no copies of the before and after document being retained is completely preposterous and defies belief. At worst it suggests there is a deliberate attempt to avoid scrutiny of what are no doubt damaging edits that HMRC insisted be made to what was purported to be an "independent" report.
As a minimum, and if we suspend disbelief and accept the version of events as laid out in the FOI response, the Loan Charge Review team will have maintained an electronic draft that was then printed and apparently shared in paper document form (interim draft A - electronic). The manually marked-up version, assuming we believe that to have been manually handed back with the combined markup of the "small number of Government officials in HMRC" (interim draft B - paper only) would have then been electronically updated to create the final, published Morse review (Final Draft C - obviously electronic).
All that is required is the release of interim draft A, which MUST have been maintained and backed-up on whatever IT systems the Loan Charge Review Secretariat was using. I am happy to review that alongside the published version of the review and I can then deduce the amendments myself.
The UK Government has an overarching obligation to maintain historical data of this type under its data retention policies. If there is something in the policy that permits the random destruction of any such drafts so soon after the review publication, I can't see it. The policy here specifically states that a minimum of 6 years is default/standard practice.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
.
It is in the public interest for HMRC and Loan Charge Review team to publish the draft document that was shared with the "small number of Government officials in HMRC" before they apparently marked it up by hand. Only by doing so can the public be expected to accept that this review was independent. A failure to publish the final draft before HMRC "fact checking" took place, will further undermine the public confidence in this whole exercise. There is no reasonable basis to withhold data that HMRC or Loan Charge Review Secretariat obviously holds.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...
Yours faithfully,
Stephen Campbell
================================================================================
MESSAGE 5 [incoming]
HEADER: no-reply@hmrc.ecase.gsi.gov.uk on behalf of FOI Team,
HM Revenue and Customs
16 December 2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our ref: IR2020/03461
Dear Mr Campbell,
Freedom of Information Act 2000 Acknowledgement
Thank you for your communication of 15th December which has been passed to
HMRC's Freedom of Information Team.
We have allocated the above reference which you should quote if you need
to contact us.
The Team will arrange for a reply to be sent to you which will either
comply with HMRC's obligations under Freedom of Information Act or, if we
think it's an enquiry that we don't need to address under the terms of the
Act, let you know why. If it is the latter we will, if possible, pass it
on to a more appropriate part of the Department for answer.
As you will appreciate, the coronavirus pandemic has provided
unprecedented challenges for Government Departments including HMRC. Over
the coming weeks our priorities are to provide critical existing and new
Public Services for Government to support customers during this difficult
time. As a result, resources may be diverted away from usual compliance or
information rights work. HMRC aims to respond to all FOIA Requests within
20 working days. If for whatever reason this timescale cannot be complied
with HMRC will, where possible, write to you explaining the reason for the
delay and providing an estimated time for response.
Yours sincerely
HMRC Freedom of Information Act Team
================================================================================
MESSAGE 6 [incoming]
HEADER: FOI Team,
HM Revenue and Customs
15 January 2021
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Attachment
IR2020 03461.pdf
203K
View
Download
Dear Mr Campbell,
We are writing in response to your request for information, received 15
December.
Yours sincerely,
HMRC Freedom of Information Team
================================================================================
MESSAGE 7 [outgoing]
HEADER: Stephen Campbell
27 January 2021
Delivered
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear FOI Team,
I have raised an official complaint with the ICO relating to this FOI.
Yours sincerely,
Stephen Campbell
================================================================================
ATTACHMENT TEXT EXTRACTION / OCR
================================================================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACHMENT: FOI2020_02985.pdf
TEXT_FILE: FOI2020_02985.pdf.txt
METHOD: pdf_native
OCR_USED: False
PAGES: 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- PDF page 1 ---
Information is available in large print, audio and Braille formats.
Text Relay service prefix number – 18001
Freedom of Information Team
S1715
6 Floor
Central Mail Unit
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
Mr Stephen Campbell
By email: request-708003-
5c495bda@whatdotheyknow.com
Email
foi.request@hmrc.gov.uk
Web
www.gov.uk
Date: 14 December 2020
Our ref:
FOI2020/02985
Dear Mr Campbell
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)
Thank you for your request, which was received on 23 November, for the following
information:
“I am asking HMRC to publish any and all communications (EMail, SMS text, WhatApp, and
other written correspondence) between any of HMRC, HMT the Sir Amyas Morse LCR team
that relates to the selection of members of the "expert panel" that would act as a sounding
board for the review findings. Specifically, I would ask for the following information to be
shared, noting that individual names can be redacted whilst enabling the substance of the
debate around their suitability or otherwise to be published:
1. Please share all EMail and other written correspondence involving any and all of HMRC,
HMT and the Amyas Morse Loan Charge Review team that discusses the selection of expert
panel members.
2. Please share ALL information held by HMRC or HMT that makes clear the qualifications
held by the selected individuals who ended up on the expert panel
3. Please share ALL minutes of meetings held to discuss the composition of the expert panel
that involved some or all of HMRCm HMT and LCR staff
4. Please share ALL minutes of meetings held between expert panel members and Sir
Amyas Morse
5. Please share copies of any and ALL written submissions provided to Sur Amyas Morse
and his team by members of the expert panel, including any drafts of such submissions that
may have been shared with HMRC and.or HMT staff and subsequently amended prior to
submission to Sir Amyas Morse and his team
6. Please share all drafting changes to submissions made by expert panel members that
were sent to HMRC and/or HMT staff prior to submission ti Sir Amyas Morse and his tre
7. Please share information HMRC, HMT or LCR hold that confirms how much each of the
participants in the expert panel was remunerated for their participation in this process
8. Please share all Emails and other written correspondence between Sir Amyas Morse and
his team on draft versions of the Loan Charge Review report which were shared with HMRC
--- PDF page 2 ---
2
OFFICIAL
and HMT staff for comment in advance of the initial drafting. Please include any and all
marked-up versions of the report that went back and forth between any and all parties
involved
9. Please share copies of all witness statements (or minutes of meetings with witnesses)
which were shared with Sir Amyas Morse and his team”
We hold some of the information you have requested; however, under section 21 of the
FOIA, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already
reasonably accessible to you.
The expert panel you refer to was engaged directly by the Loan Charge Review team, rather
than HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). However, the information which HMRC holds on this
subject has already been provided in response to a separate request which is available to
view online.
A small number of government officials in HMRC and HM Treasury were provided early sight
of the Independent Loan Charge Review under strict and controlled conditions. This was to
correct any factual errors ahead of publication and was provided in hard copy. All copies
were returned to Sir Amyas Morse and the Review team and HMRC did not retain any
copies.
HMRC was not privy to any information provided to the Review team, other than evidence
provided by HMRC/ HMT when requested by Sir Amyas Morse and the Review team.
Therefore, HMRC do not hold any information relating to minutes of meeting, witness
statements, information provided by the expert panel or information relating to the
appointment or the arrangements made with the expert panel.
If you are not satisfied with this reply you may request a review within two months by
emailing foi.review@hmrc.gov.uk, or by writing to the address at the top right-hand side of
this letter.
If you are not content with the outcome of an internal review you can complain to the
Information Commissioner’s Office.
Yours sincerely,
HM Revenue and Customs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACHMENT: IR2020_03461.pdf
TEXT_FILE: IR2020_03461.pdf.txt
METHOD: pdf_native
OCR_USED: False
PAGES: 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- PDF page 1 ---
Information is available in large print, audio and Braille formats.
Text Relay service prefix number – 18001
Freedom of Information Team
S1715
6 Floor
Central Mail Unit
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
Mr Stephen Campbell
By email: request-708003-
5c495bda@whatdotheyknow.com
Email
foi.request@hmrc.gov.uk
Web
www.gov.uk
Date: 15 January 2021
Our ref:
IR2020/03461
Dear Mr Campbell
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)
Thank you for your email of 15 December, which seeks a review of our original response to
your information request.
As was provided in HMRC’s initial response and within your representations; A small
number of government officials in HMRC and HM Treasury were provided early sight of the
Independent Loan Charge Review under strict and controlled conditions. This was to correct
any factual errors ahead of publication and was provided in hard copy. All copies were
returned to Sir Amyas Morse and the Review team and HMRC did not retain any copies.
You have contested that this information must be held by the department, providing:
‘All that is required is the release of interim draft A, which MUST have been maintained and
backed-up on whatever IT systems the Loan Charge Review Secretariat was using. I am
happy to review that alongside the published version of the review and I can then deduce
the amendments myself.’
In scenarios where there is some dispute between the amount of information located by a
public authority and the amount of information that a complainant believes may be held, the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), following the lead of a number of Information
Tribunal decisions, applies the civil standard of the balance of probabilities.
In other words, in order to determine such complaints, the ICO must decide whether on the
balance of probabilities a public authority holds any information which falls within the scope
of the request (or was held at the time of the request).
In this instance, HMRC has previously complied with the below request for information:
“Please provide ALL correspondence including emails, letters, meetings, phone calls etc...
between Sir Amyas Morse / The Loan Charge Review secretariat team and HMRC relating
to the Loan Charge Review commissioned by the government.”
Information released in response to this request is available online, a link to which was
provided in HMRC’s initial response.
--- PDF page 2 ---
2
OFFICIAL
From this information it is clear that an electronic version of the information you seek was
not transmitted to HMRC by the Review team.
I can advise that HMRC staff seconded onto the Review team had a clear remit to support
Sir Amyas Morse in the conduct of the Review; their work on the Review team was separate
from their role as HMRC officials before or after the Review.
HMRC staff seconded onto the Review team were provided with separate IT equipment and
email addresses to be used while performing their duties on the Review. Records were not
stored on HMRC systems and HMRC did not arrange the provision of IT equipment or
infrastructure for the Review.
Therefore, on the balance of probabilities I conclude that HMRC does not hold the you seek
and HMRC’s initial response to your request was compliant with the FOIA.
If you are not content with the outcome of this internal review you can complain to the
Information Commissioner’s Office.
Yours sincerely,
HM Revenue and Customs