Treasury letter on Tory tax claim in full

A letter sent by James Bowler, chief Treasury civil servant to Labour's Darren Jones said the Conservatives' assessment of Labour's tax plans shouldn't "be presented as having been produced by the civil service".

Here is the letter in full:

Dear Darren,

Opposition Costings

Thank you for your letter dated 24 May 2024 regarding the presentation of opposition policy costings.

As you will be aware, when costing the policies of opposition parties HM Treasury and the wider Civil Service follow established guidance set out in the directory of the Civil Service guidance. As per this guidance, the costing produced by HM Treasury and the wider civil service are published on the gov.uk website. As you will expect, civil servants were not involved in the production of presentation of the Conservative Party's document 'Labour's Tax Rises' or in the calculation of the total figure used.

In your letter you highlight that the £38bn figure used in the Conservative Party's publication includes costs beyond those provided by the civil service and published online by HM Treasury.

I agree that any costings derived from other sources or produced by other organisations should not be presented as having been produced by the Civil Service.

I have reminded Ministers and advisers that this should be the case.

James Bowler

Permanent Secretary

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