The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joanna Cherry on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many requests have been made for paper copies of tax return forms in the last 12 months.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold easily accessible data regarding the number of requests made for paper copies of tax returns forms in the last 12 months.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of paying to foreign nationals (a) child and (b) other tax credits in 2015-16.
Damian Hinds
The information is not available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff have been employed to cover HM Revenue and Customs’ tax credit telephone lines in each of the past five years for which figures are available.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold this information.
HMRC has a number of significant peaks of customer contact every year, and since 2005 it has moved its resources around to meet those seasonal priorities.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average (a) duration and (b) cost to the caller of a telephone call to HM Revenue and Customs’ tax credit telephone lines was in the most recent 12 months for which data is available; and how much revenue was generated from these calls.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not track each customer journey end to end through the phone system, and cannot therefore provide the average duration time as requested.
HMRC does not hold information of the cost of a call to its lines. I would refer to my answer given on 13 July 2015 to UIN 5712.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s impact assessment on the Tax Credits (Income Threshold and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015, what the (a) income brackets are for each decile and (b) equivalent levels are for the proportions in Chart 1.
Damian Hinds
The analysis that fed into the published Impact Assessment[1] shows how the £4.4bn of savings from the tax credit changes as laid out in the publication are distributed for each income decile on the income distribution for tax credit claimants. This has clearly demonstrated that tax credit claimants on the highest incomes – on average £42,000 a year – will contribute nearly 4 times as much as the claimants on the lowest incomes to the savings from this policy.
This Government is committed to moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society. As the Chancellor has made clear, the Government will set out at Autumn Statement how we plan to achieve the same goal of reforming tax credits, saving the money we need to save to secure our economy, while at the same time helping in the transition.
[1] http://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-committees/Secondary-Legislation-Scrutiny-Committee/DraftTaxCreditsRegs2015-ImpactAssessment.pdf
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-28.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many registered financial advisers are sole traders.
Harriett Baldwin
This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government. The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply to you directly by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of (a) which personal details and (b) how many individual profiles were hacked as a result of the cyber security breach of the Government Gateway system.
Matthew Hancock
To date the security reports on the Government Gateway system have shown no indication of a cyber security breach. We are continuously monitoring and managing the security risks to all HMG systems,taking appropriate action where necessary and ensuring we maintain the best possible level of security.
We are aware Government Gateway credentials stored outside government systems have been harvested by malware. This highlights the importance of users implementing and maintaining good security practices, for example, installing and updating anti-virus software, as well as never sharing or using a single password for all internet activities.
We will continue to increase our levels of security monitoring and management on all our systems.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of government IT spending was spent with small and medium sized (SME) enterprises in 2014-15; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of that spending that will be with SMEs in 2015-16.
Matthew Hancock
We are finalising the data for government spend with small business during 2014-15 and will publish this information before the end of the year.
Data for 2015-16 will be published in due course.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Brown on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for National Statistics plans to include in quarterly migration figures the number of Syrian refugees resettled in the UK under the Government’s relocation scheme.
Mr Rob Wilson
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-28.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the Independent Commission the Freedom of Information on the number of occasions it plans to meet in order to finalise its report.
Matthew Hancock
It is for the independent Commission on Freedom of Information to organise its programme of work.