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  • Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Priti Patel – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Priti Patel on 2014-04-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the loss to the public purse as a result of illicit, illegal and smuggled tobacco in each of the last five years.

    Nicky Morgan

    Estimates of the volume and total revenue losses associated with the tobacco illicit market are published in ‘Tobacco Tax Gap estimates: 2012-13′. The figures are available in tables 4.1 and 4.5.

    These estimates cannot be disaggregated by the type of illicit activity, e.g. through smuggling, counterfeiting or other fraud.

    The methodology for producing the estimates are provided in the ‘Methodological Annex for Measuring Tax Gaps 2013′.

    Both documents can be accessed via the following page on the HMRC website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/measuring-tax-gaps

    “

  • Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen O’Brien – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen O’Brien on 2014-04-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.

    Danny Alexander

    The Green Book and associated supplementary guidance is publicly available on the Treasury web site. It sets out a range of approaches and methods that may be appropriate in a number of different appraisal circumstances. The valuation of preventing fatalities makes a contribution to the calculation of risk reduction in many situations and is used extensively by the Department for Transport among others. Department of Health policies are likely to impact on health and longevity. For the majority of these policies, the impacts will be quantified in terms of quality adjusted life years. The cost of producing a quality adjusted life year is used as part of the appraisal and evaluation of alternative health investments.

  • Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average cost is of recovery of £1 of debt by HM Revenue and Customs debt management staff.

    Mr David Gauke

    HMRC collects about £475 billion of tax revenue every year. 90% of this is collected by the due date; just 10% of it becomes overdue and a debt that HMRC has to recover/enforce.

    It would be misleading to attribute the effect of enforcing tax that is not paid on time outside the context of collecting tax that is collected on time.

    Accordingly, we do not routinely measure the ‘average’ cost of collecting £1 of debt.

    HMRC uses a number of different methods to recover outstanding debts ranging from automated processes to more targeted enforcement tools as well as partnering initiatives with private sector companies. The application of specific interventions depends on a number of factors including customer behaviour, the economic climate, and our overall approach to maintaining the health of the tax system and tackling non-compliance.

    In 2011 HMRC published the results of an international benchmarking study which compares HMRC’s operational performance to nine other international tax administrations. Results from this study showed HMRC had the lowest cost of all ten countries.

    Over the long term 99% of taxes due are collected with only 1% being lost to the Exchequer, almost all of which is due to insolvency.

  • Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the staffing levels at HM Revenue and Customs debt management collectors were in (a) debt management telephony centres, (b) field force, (c) debt collection intervention teams, (d) debt technical offices and (e) late stage intervention in each of the last three years.

    Mr David Gauke

    Staff numbers fluctuate throughout the year but the following numbers of staff were in post at 31 March for each of the last three years:

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    DMTC/DCIT

    1,276

    1,194

    1,336

    Field Force

    631

    601

    531

    DTO

    1,012

    1,223

    1,113

    LAST

    242

    277

    Total

    2,919

    3,260

    3,257

    · HMRC uses an appropriate mix of interventions to recover outstanding debt based on assessments of previous behaviour, [credit] risk and likely ability to pay. The allocation of various activities to specific debts is not mutually exclusive – some debtors may experience multiple contacts if they do not respond to initial attempts at recovery.

    · The table below shows the overall annual amounts of debts which HMRC has pursued and cleared in recent years.

    £billion

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    Total Debt processed

    51

    53

    47

    59

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-04-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had on the future of the Landfill Communities Fund.

    Nicky Morgan

    The Government regularly meets a range of stakeholders on the Landfill Communities Fund.

    The LCF makes a valuable contribution to local communities. All projects have to be approved by ENTRUST as meeting specific criteria, to ensure the project benefits the wider community.The value of the landfill communities fund for 2014-15 will be reduced to £71 million. This reduction takes account of progress that environmental bodies have made to address the government’s challenge to reduce unspent funds. The saving will be used to fund an equivalent one-off increase in Defra’s budget to address waste crime. The government intends that environmental bodies’ performance against the challenge is published once the final information is available later this year.

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-04-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the performance of projects funded by the Landfill Communities Fund; what plans he has for the future of the fund; and if he will make a statement.

    Nicky Morgan

    The Government regularly meets a range of stakeholders on the Landfill Communities Fund.

    The LCF makes a valuable contribution to local communities. All projects have to be approved by ENTRUST as meeting specific criteria, to ensure the project benefits the wider community.The value of the landfill communities fund for 2014-15 will be reduced to £71 million. This reduction takes account of progress that environmental bodies have made to address the government’s challenge to reduce unspent funds. The saving will be used to fund an equivalent one-off increase in Defra’s budget to address waste crime. The government intends that environmental bodies’ performance against the challenge is published once the final information is available later this year.

  • Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Austin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-04-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the value of Landfill Community Fund grants to projects in (a) Dudley North constituency, (b) Dudley Borough, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.

    Nicky Morgan

    ENTRUST, the regulator of the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF), has provided the value of the LCF in Dudley, the West Midlands and England from the inception of the fund to date and for the last financial year. This is set out in the table below. ENTRUST does not have this information broken down by constituency.

    Dudley

    West Midlands (includes Dudley)

    England

    £m

    £m

    £m

    2013-14

    0.142

    2.17

    67

    1996 to date

    2.3

    24

    987

    Given the level of unspent funds that the LCF continues to hold, reducing the value of the fund by less than 10% is not expected to impact on communities’ ability to receive LCF funding.

  • Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Ian Lavery – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-10.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average annual (a) cost of employing HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) debt management collectors and (b) value of interventions undertaken by individual HMRC debt management collectors are in (i) debt management telephony centres, (ii) field force, (iii) debt collection intervention teams, (iv) debt technical offices and (v) late stage intervention.

    Mr David Gauke

    Staff numbers fluctuate throughout the year but the following numbers of staff were in post at 31 March for each of the last three years:

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    DMTC/DCIT

    1,276

    1,194

    1,336

    Field Force

    631

    601

    531

    DTO

    1,012

    1,223

    1,113

    LAST

    242

    277

    Total

    2,919

    3,260

    3,257

    · HMRC uses an appropriate mix of interventions to recover outstanding debt based on assessments of previous behaviour, [credit] risk and likely ability to pay. The allocation of various activities to specific debts is not mutually exclusive – some debtors may experience multiple contacts if they do not respond to initial attempts at recovery.

    · The table below shows the overall annual amounts of debts which HMRC has pursued and cleared in recent years.

    £billion

    2010/11

    2011/12

    2012/13

    2013/14

    Total Debt processed

    51

    53

    47

    59

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Church Commissioners

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the right hon. Member for Banbury, representing the Church Commissioners, what levels of stock the Church Commissioners hold of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Sir Tony Baldry

    The Church Commissioners do not keep inventories of stationery items and office consumables, to calculate the stock levels held would incur a disproportionate cost. The level of stock is monitored regularly, and replenished as necessary to meet staff needs.

  • John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    John Redwood – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Redwood on 2014-04-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

    Brandon Lewis

    My Department does not routinely record this information in the format requested. However, this Administration has cut spending significantly on office supplies, cutting expenditure from £480,180 (inc VAT) in 2009-10 to £73,738 in 2013-14.

    In 2010, we conducted an internal review of the Department’s spend on office supplies which highlighted several opportunities to achieve savings. A rationalised list of stationery items was created which:

    · reduced the available catalogue of items from around 3,500 to approximately 220;

    · replaced higher value branded items, with non-branded equivalents; and

    · adopted recycled printer toners and copier paper.

    Significant savings were also achieved by aggregating the spend of all Departments and awarding a single Cabinet Office contract for stationery items and one for electronic office supplies (printer toners and other consumables). These contracts were awarded in September 2011 and DCLG were among the first departments to adopt them in November 2011.

    As part of our planned move of office accommodation this summer (to share with the Home Office to save taxpayers’ money), stationery across the department will be surrendered and pooled, with the potential to save money by not ordering items locally and preventing a build-up of surplus stationery stock.

    I hope this illustrates how every bit of the public sector has the potential to deliver sensible savings on back office costs.