Tag: Paul Flynn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the titles of all reports covering the effects of the use of a UK nuclear weapon produced by (a) his Department and (b) the Atomic Weapons Establishment and its predecessor body for his Department in the last 30 years.

Mr Philip Dunne

The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Hitachi and Agility Trains on future maintenance depots for the new Intercity Express Programme trains in use for (a) Great Western and (b) East Coast services.

Claire Perry

Staffing issues at maintenance depots on the East Coast and Great Western are a matter for Hitachi and the respective Train Operator. The Department does not get involved.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-11.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has sought a meeting with Hervé Falciani to discuss the details of unregistered bank accounts held by UK citizens in HSBC Private Bank in Switzerland.

Mr David Gauke

How operations are conducted is a matter for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) under the long standing principle of operational independence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what arrangements his Department has put in place for situations where application forms requesting an increase in local housing allowance (LHA) to cover an increase in rent applied to an eligible LHA claimant are lost by his Department and the applicant consequently faces eviction.

Steve Webb

The Department for Work and Pensions provides funding for Housing Benefit to Local Authorities in Great Britain. Responsibility for the day to day administration of Housing Benefit lies with Local Authorities.

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 Paul Flynn on 2015-02-12.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on which dates he discussed with senior officials at HM Revenue and Customs whether maximisation of recovery of unpaid tax liabilities from UK residents holding private unregistered accounts offshore should be prioritised ahead of prosecuting alleged offenders.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has a longstanding approach to tax evasion, which is based on collecting the tax and interest due, changing taxpayer behaviour to discourage them from evading in the future, and enforcing the most appropriate and effective penalties. This approach was set out by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2002^[1] and has not changed.

They have a range of enforcement tools at their disposal, including criminal prosecution and civil sanctions. In many cases, and when the evidence supports this, the most appropriate action is to pursue criminal charges.

HMRC therefore use the criminal route where they have the strongest evidence of criminal intent, for serial tax evaders and for people who deliberately conceal information when they are investigated by HMRC.

In 2010 this Government increased the resources available for prosecution and as a result the number of prosecutions has increased by a factor of five.

[1] http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/2002/nov/07/tax-fraud

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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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-02-11.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which HM Revenue and Customs officials saw the list of bank accounts held at the HSBC private bank in Geneva, known as the Falciani list, as passed to the Government by the French financial authorities; what evaluation was conducted of that list on its receipt; and when Ministers in his Department were first made aware of the information on that list.

Mr David Gauke

On receipt of the list HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) set up a project, called ‘Operation SOLACE’, which at its peak had around 300 tax specialists systematically examining the leaked HSBC Suisse data, to assess how it could be used to identify tax evasion and whether it provided sufficient evidence to support enforcement action against UK resident account holders.

The HSBC Suisse data initially revealed 6,800 ‘entities’ – individuals, businesses and trusts – but this contained duplication (some people had multiple accounts). Removing duplication left around 3,600 entities, all of which HMRC have examined.

HMRC have investigated and challenged more than 1,000 account holders, and collected £135 million from them in unpaid tax, interest and fines.

HMRC received the data from the French in April 2010 under very strict international treaty conditions, which limited its use to tax purposes only and prevented HMRC from sharing the data with other law enforcement authorities for investigating other potential offences.

Since 2010 we have asked the French authorities on a number of occasions for permission to use the data for purposes wider than tax collection.

The French authorities gave written confirmation on 23 February 2015 that they were lifting restrictions on the use and sharing of the data with other law enforcement agencies and regulators for the purpose of investigating criminal offences.

As a result, HMRC has recently held a multi-agency meeting to discuss how the stolen HSBC Suisse data can be shared with them.

Ministers were not made aware of any specific cases under the long standing principle of taxpayer confidentiality and HMRC operational independence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to promote the enhancement of urban (a) green infrastructure and (b) waterways.

Nick Boles

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local planning authorities should plan positively for the creation, protection, enhancement and management of green infrastructure. This is supported by the recently published planning guidance which includes guidance on green infrastructure.

The maintenance and promotion of inland waterways is a matter for navigation authorities rather than Government. However, Government provides grant in aid funding to the two largest navigation authorities in England and Wales – the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency.