The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-02-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2014 to Question 215333, what the estimated cost to the Exchequer in the calendar year 2015 will be of raising Transport for London bus fares in line with the retail price index.
Danny Alexander
The estimated cost to the taxpayer in 2015 of raising Transport for London (TFL) bus fares is 1% of TFL’s bus fare income for 2015.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2015 to Question 223589, what the value was of the support provided by Network Rail to the National Task Force in each year since 2009-10.
Claire Perry
The Government, and Network Rail, to further their objective of supporting a safe, reliable and efficient rail network, engage with and support a broad range of stakeholders and initiatives across Government. These include the Technical Strategy Leadership Group; Rail Delivery Group Limited; the Planning Oversight Group; and the National Task Force.
The Department provided the following funding towards the Technical Strategy Leadership Group’s strategic research programme through a grant to RSSB which facilitates the group:
|
Year |
DfT grant towards TSLG’s research programme (£m) |
|
2010/11 |
1.25 |
|
2011/12 |
1.75 |
|
2012/13 |
3 |
|
2013/14 |
3.5 |
Network Rail does not provide direct financial support to the Technical Strategy Leadership Group.
Network Rail, between 10th August 2012 and 31st March 2014, paid £240,000 to Rail Delivery Group Limited in membership fees. For the year April 2014 – March 2015, Network Rail has paid or is due to pay £1,568,509 in membership fees. The increased fees paid by Network Rail in the most recent year are as a result of the Group assuming responsibility for policy formulation and communications on behalf of the rail industry. Network Rail provides staff to Rail Delivery Group Limited, for which it is due to charge the group £261,312.
The Planning Oversight Group is funded and supported by Rail Delivery Group Limited and does not receive direct financial support from the Department or Network Rail. The National Task Force does not have a budget, but those who attend are drawn from the various industry members.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-02-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the future prospects for the UK’s credit rating.
Andrea Leadsom
The Government’s long term economic plan has secured the UK’s strong credit rating, which has contributed to lower borrowing costs and help protect frontline services. In June 2014, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) revised the outlook on their UK AAA rating from negative to stable. The key driver cited by S&P was ‘Amid further progress in consolidating public fiannces, the UK’s economic recovery is broadening.’
S&P have assigned the UK sovereign the top triple AAA rating since they first published a UK rating in 1978. Moody’s and Fitch have assigned the UK the second highest rating Aa1 and AA+ respectively, with a stable outlook. The Government remains committed to its long term economic plan to ensure that the UK’s strong credit rating is maintained.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-02-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what incentives he is providing to encourage investment from Commonwealth countries in the UK.
Matthew Hancock
UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is the Government department that works to encourage foreign direct investment into the UK.
UKTI’s has teams focussed on attracting inward investment in Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand and all UKTI teams in Commonwealth countries together with UK based UKTI staff provide support for companies or funds considering inward investment into the UK.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2015-02-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Scottish Ministers on the sharing of Scottish NHS data with HM Revenue and Customs.
Mr David Gauke
Treasury ministers discuss a wide range of issues with their ministerial counterparts, including in the Scottish Government. In line with the practice followed by previous administrations, details of such discussions are not routinely disclosed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) his Department and (b) HM Revenue and Customs has asked the (i) Panorama programme or (ii) Guardian for the documents reporting on the use by UK citizens of unregistered accounts in jurisdictions abroad to evade paying tax in the UK was based.
Mr David Gauke
I can confirm that HM Revenue and Custom (HMRC) has formally asked the BBC Panorama programme, the Guardian newspaper and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists for all data in their possession relating to off shore tax evasion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Curran on 2015-02-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what safeguards he plans to put in place to ensure the security of Scottish NHS data shared with HM Revenue and Customs.
Mr David Gauke
Any taxpayer data held by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is subjected to strict safeguards.
HMRC take their duty of confidentiality very seriously and cannot disclose any information acquired or held unless specifically provided for by law. All HMRC information is subject to stringent data security controls and unlawful disclosure of taxpayer information is potentially a criminal offence.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2015-02-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what effect he expects the judgement in Edenred (UK Group) v HM Treasury & Ors to have on the timescale for roll-out for the tax free childcare scheme contract.
Priti Patel
Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) will provide support to hard-working families for childcare costs. The introduction of TFC will give almost two million families the opportunity to receive up to £2,000 per annum of support per child, via a new simple online system.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Edwards on 2015-02-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of debt owed to HM Revenue and Customs in unpaid taxes.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) publishes the total unpaid tax debt owed to HM Revenue and Customs within its Annual Reports and Accounts. The latest is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/330670/HMRC-annual-report-2013-14.pdf
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) the Crown Prosecution Service, (b) the Attorney General, (c) HM Revenue and Customs and (d) the Financial Conduct Authority on the use by UK residents of the provisions of the European Savings Directive to avoid paying UK tax by opening anonymous bank accounts in jurisdictions abroad since 1 January 2015.
Mr David Gauke
The European Savings Directive has been in force since 2005. It is a mechanism for achieving tax compliance through either disclosure of investment income data to the tax jurisdiction of the individual concerned or (in limited circumstances) applying withholding tax at source as an alternative to information disclosure.