Asked by: Lord Vinson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of tax residency self-certification forms completed by (1) individuals, (2) entities, and (3) controlling persons, since the introduction in the UK of the Common Reporting Standards; and how many such forms they estimate will be completed annually in future.
Answered by Lord Bates
The estimated economic impact of implementing the Common Reporting Standard and the estimated costs to business were set out in a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published on 18 March 2015.
Tax residency self-certification forms are requested by financial institutions to help determine whether account holders are reportable under the CRS. The Government has not estimated the number of tax residency self-certification forms that have been completed or will be completed annually in future.
Asked by: Lord Vinson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the costs to (1) banks, (2) insurance companies, (3) charities, and (4) other financial institutions, of the universal application of the Common Reporting Standards and consequent obligations on individuals, entities and controlling persons to complete tax residency self-certification forms, including for multiple institutions.
Answered by Lord Bates
The estimated economic impact of implementing the Common Reporting Standard and the estimated costs to business were set out in a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published on 18 March 2015.
Tax residency self-certification forms are requested by financial institutions to help determine whether account holders are reportable under the CRS. The Government has not estimated the number of tax residency self-certification forms that have been completed or will be completed annually in future.
Asked by: Lord Vinson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the cost to the UK economy of the universal application of the Common Reporting Standards and consequent obligations on individuals, entities and controlling persons to complete tax residency self-certification forms, including for multiple institutions.
Answered by Lord Bates
The estimated economic impact of implementing the Common Reporting Standard and the estimated costs to business were set out in a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published on 18 March 2015.
Tax residency self-certification forms are requested by financial institutions to help determine whether account holders are reportable under the CRS. The Government has not estimated the number of tax residency self-certification forms that have been completed or will be completed annually in future.
Asked by: Lord Vinson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the cost of litigation; (2) the extent to which this is related to fees charged by lawyers; and (3) the existence of a genuine competitive market to ensure that such fees are set at a level that is fair and reasonable.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
The Government does not hold data on the legal fees charged by lawyers to their clients, which are private matters. The Government does, however, continue to have concerns about the costs of civil litigation that may be recovered from a losing party. These recoverable costs, if not fixed, are agreed between the parties or determined by the court at the end of the case. We have taken action on these recoverable costs in recent years, largely implementing the recommendations of Sir Rupert Jackson’s ‘Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report’, published in January 2010, including in Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, in April 2013.
Sir Rupert’s ‘Supplemental Report: Fixed Recoverable Costs’, published in July 2017 recommended extending fixing the recoverable costs in all civil cases up to £25,000 damages, and in less complex cases up to £100,000 damages. The Government is considering the report and will set out the way forward in due course.
Asked by: Lord Vinson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take, through the appropriate agencies, to safeguard the unique Special Area of Conservation and Site of Special Scientific Interest of the Upper River Itchen from threats of pollution and abstraction.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The current Water Framework Directive classification for the River Itchen is Good.
The Environment Agency (EA) regulates abstraction from and discharges to rivers by issuing permits and checking that these are being complied with. Permit limits are set to ensure the protection of the environment. The EA regularly reviews permits based on the evidence available and it amends these limits when necessary.
As part of its ongoing programme of restoring sustainable abstraction the EA is reviewing abstraction permits. Since 2007 this work has reduced the amount of water being abstracted from the River Itchen catchment each year by more than 5.35 million cubic metres. The EA is also reviewing discharge permits and has successfully reduced the levels of chemicals such as phosphates entering the river system.
Asked by: Lord Vinson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 6 December 2017 that she would write to the Director of Public Prosecutions (HL Deb, col 1051), whether she has done so; and if so, what was the response.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
I would refer his Lordship to the answer to HL4421 from Lord Pearson, which was tabled on 21 December 2017, a copy of which has been made available in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Vinson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the provisional finding by the Competition and Markets Authority that the anticipated acquisition by Tesco plc of Booker Group plc "may not be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition".
Answered by Lord Henley
Competition investigations into mergers are a matter for the independent Competition and Markets Authority.
Asked by: Lord Vinson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to make it a condition of listing that administrators of collective investments declare their shorting positions, and have been fully authorised by the beneficial owners of those shares before lending those shares for shorting purposes.
Answered by Lord Bates
This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from government.
This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Noble Lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Vinson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the beneficial owners of shares held in collective investments are fully aware when those shares have been lent for shorting purposes and have given their permission accordingly.
Answered by Lord Bates
This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from government.
This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Noble Lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Lord Vinson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask Her Majesty's Government under what authority the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has agreed a definition of racially and religiously aggravated crime that is wider than the legal definition under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Criminal Justice Act 2003, as indicated in the CPS Public statement on prosecuting racist and religious hate crime published in August.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie
In order to charge and prosecute hate crimes, the CPS uses the legal definition provided by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Criminal Justice Act 2003. The shared police and CPS definition of hate crime is based on the perception of the victim or any other person and allows for case flagging and monitoring as well as appropriate victim support, it does not affect the charge.
This flagging definition comes from the recommended definition in the Macpherson report which was published in 1999 as a result of the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The Macpherson Report found a lack of confidence within communities that hate crime was being treated seriously by the police and Criminal Justice System and recommended that the definition of a racist incident should be, ‘any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person’. Putting the victim’s perception at the heart of the definition gives a clear signal that, once flagged as a hate crime, an appropriate investigation will follow and evidence to support the law on hostility will be proactively sought. The definition seeks to encourage victims to report and to increase confidence in the Criminal Justice System.