The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the rail network that will be driver-only operated by (a) 2020 and (b) 2025.
Claire Perry
Staffing levels are generally a matter for railway operators, as we believe that they are best placed to determine how to meet the needs of their passengers. Therefore, no such estimate has been made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will appoint an independent commission to investigate the role of PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte in designing, selling and implementing tax avoidance schemes.
Mr David Gauke
The Government is committed to countering tax avoidance to ensure all taxpayers pay their fair share. At Budget 2016, the Chancellor announced a comprehensive package of measures to tackle tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning, and tax evasion by individuals and businesses. Overall, this will raise £12 billion by 2020-21.
We keep our policy on countering tax avoidance under continuous review to respond to emerging risks.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-05-03.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the net flow of income was between the UK and other EU countries except Ireland from UK citizens living and working abroad in the EU for the most recent year for which figures are available.
Mr David Gauke
No geographical breakdown of the flow of income between UK citizens living and working abroad in the EU is available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2015-12-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the additional costs to retro-fit the Great Western Inter-City Express Programme fleet of electric trains with diesel engines.
Claire Perry
The Department is actively looking at a range of commercial and technical options to ensure passenger benefits are delivered on time. We have a commercially confidential estimate however no decisions have been taken on IEP conversion.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on passenger safety and security of (a) the extension of driver-only operation on rail services operated by Govia Thameslink Railways Ltd and (b) the closure of ticket offices serving those services.
Claire Perry
The safety of passengers and rail users is paramount on the railway and the Department for Transport would never do anything to put passengers at risk.
Driver-only operation is already in safe use on almost a third of rail services in Great Britain and has been for up to 30 years and we think that it can help to improve the service to passengers. By giving responsibility to the driver to operate the doors, the other staff on board the train could provide a better face-to-face service for passengers. Whilst we regulate Ticket Office opening times through the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement station staffing levels are a matter for operators, as we believe that railway operators themselves are best placed to determine how to meet the needs of their passengers. However, it is important that those who need assistance to travel can rely on railway staff to provide this. Each operator is required to participate in the Passenger Assist system which allows disabled passengers to book staff assistance when they require it.
We recognise that passengers can feel very strongly about station staffing hours and we expect all operators to take on board the views of stakeholders before taking any proposal to change such hours forward.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to provide that whistleblowers whose evidence leads to a successful prosecution of tax evasion or avoidance receive a portion of the tax penalties levied on the guilty party.
Mr David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs encourages people to come forward with information in a number of ways, and is already able to offer financial rewards to those who provide us with significant information relating to tax evasion or avoidance. The best way to do so is kept under review.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-07-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of non-planned Govia Thameslink Railway services were cancelled in each reporting period since July 2015.
Claire Perry
There have not been, and there are, no ‘non-planned’ services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-01-05.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many evasion referrals to the HM Revenue and Customs Evasion Referral Team were made by the taskforces established to crack down on tax evasion and tax avoidance in each tax year since 2012-13; and how many such referrals were adopted as working cases by the HM Revenue and Customs (a) Criminal Investigation, (b) Specialist Investigation and (c) Local Compliance Fraud business unit.
Mr David Gauke
Local Compliance Fraud merged with Specialist Investigation in 2015/16. Later that year Specialist Investigation then merged with Criminal Investigation to form one directorate, the Fraud Investigation Service (FIS). The figures for referrals to FIS are in the following table:
|
Year |
Taskforce Referrals Made |
Adopted by FIS |
|
2012/13 |
336 |
52 |
|
2013/14 |
598 |
145 |
|
2014/15 |
596 |
276 |
The referrals are made by HMRC officers when they suspect or discover evasion. The process is designed to escalate this type of case to a specialist team for review. If the case is not adopted by one of these teams it is returned to the referring officer to continue the investigation.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Govia Thameslink Railways Ltd on closure or reduction in hours of ticket offices.
Claire Perry
Representatives from Govia Thameslink Railway briefed officials at the Department for Transport on their plans to carry out a consultation on proposals to change ticket office opening hours at some stations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kelvin Hopkins on 2016-03-16.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the judgment in Iliffe News and Media Ltd & Ors v Revenue and Customs [2012] UKFTT 696 (TC) (1 November 2012), what steps his Department has taken against Ernst & Young for designing and marketing the tax avoidance scheme rejected by the court.
Mr David Gauke
It is not possible for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to provide details of any action taken in connection with these organisations.
In the March 2015 Budget, the Government challenged the accountancy and tax professional bodies to improve how they deal with their members who promote tax avoidance schemes.
The professional bodies have responded positively to this challenge and are working with HMRC to agree a new standard to which their members will need to adhere.