Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of tobacco manufacturers’ ability to control their supply chain to prevent contraband tobacco coming into the UK.
Answered by Simon Clarke
In 2006, Parliament introduced stringent rules requiring all UK tobacco manufacturers to control their supply chains. These rules required them to take steps to avoid supplying cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco to persons who are likely to smuggle them into the UK or resupply them to other persons who are likely to do the same.
Tobacco manufacturers can face penalties of up to £5m for failing to comply with the rules.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) robustly challenge tobacco manufacturers’ supply chain policies and procedures to ensure their continued compliance with the rules. This has involved ongoing contact and regular meetings between HMRC’s Large Business Team and manufacturers since the legislation was introduced.
One aspect of this ongoing contact is the requirement that manufacturers inspect seizures of over 100,000 cigarettes or 50kg of hand rolling tobacco and provide a summary of how those goods, if confirmed genuine, got in to the hands of smugglers. Large Business review and challenge these summaries to ensure manufacturers have taken appropriate action, in line with their own published supply chain policies.
Due to taxpayer confidentiality it is not possible to provide comment on the progress of HMRC’s discussions with individual businesses about their supply chain controls.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what powers he has to sanction tobacco manufacturers for failing to control their supply chain and prevent contraband tobacco entering the UK.
Answered by Simon Clarke
In 2006, Parliament introduced stringent rules requiring all UK tobacco manufacturers to control their supply chains. These rules required them to take steps to avoid supplying cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco to persons who are likely to smuggle them into the UK or resupply them to other persons who are likely to do the same.
Tobacco manufacturers can face penalties of up to £5m for failing to comply with the rules.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) robustly challenge tobacco manufacturers’ supply chain policies and procedures to ensure their continued compliance with the rules. This has involved ongoing contact and regular meetings between HMRC’s Large Business Team and manufacturers since the legislation was introduced.
One aspect of this ongoing contact is the requirement that manufacturers inspect seizures of over 100,000 cigarettes or 50kg of hand rolling tobacco and provide a summary of how those goods, if confirmed genuine, got in to the hands of smugglers. Large Business review and challenge these summaries to ensure manufacturers have taken appropriate action, in line with their own published supply chain policies.
Due to taxpayer confidentiality it is not possible to provide comment on the progress of HMRC’s discussions with individual businesses about their supply chain controls.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with tobacco manufacturers on the adequacy of controls in their supply chains.
Answered by Simon Clarke
In 2006, Parliament introduced stringent rules requiring all UK tobacco manufacturers to control their supply chains. These rules required them to take steps to avoid supplying cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco to persons who are likely to smuggle them into the UK or resupply them to other persons who are likely to do the same.
Tobacco manufacturers can face penalties of up to £5m for failing to comply with the rules.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) robustly challenge tobacco manufacturers’ supply chain policies and procedures to ensure their continued compliance with the rules. This has involved ongoing contact and regular meetings between HMRC’s Large Business Team and manufacturers since the legislation was introduced.
One aspect of this ongoing contact is the requirement that manufacturers inspect seizures of over 100,000 cigarettes or 50kg of hand rolling tobacco and provide a summary of how those goods, if confirmed genuine, got in to the hands of smugglers. Large Business review and challenge these summaries to ensure manufacturers have taken appropriate action, in line with their own published supply chain policies.
Due to taxpayer confidentiality it is not possible to provide comment on the progress of HMRC’s discussions with individual businesses about their supply chain controls.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with tobacco manufacturers on preventing the smuggling of their product into the UK.
Answered by Simon Clarke
In 2006, Parliament introduced stringent rules requiring all UK tobacco manufacturers to control their supply chains. These rules required them to take steps to avoid supplying cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco to persons who are likely to smuggle them into the UK or resupply them to other persons who are likely to do the same.
Tobacco manufacturers can face penalties of up to £5m for failing to comply with the rules.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) robustly challenge tobacco manufacturers’ supply chain policies and procedures to ensure their continued compliance with the rules. This has involved ongoing contact and regular meetings between HMRC’s Large Business Team and manufacturers since the legislation was introduced.
One aspect of this ongoing contact is the requirement that manufacturers inspect seizures of over 100,000 cigarettes or 50kg of hand rolling tobacco and provide a summary of how those goods, if confirmed genuine, got in to the hands of smugglers. Large Business review and challenge these summaries to ensure manufacturers have taken appropriate action, in line with their own published supply chain policies.
Due to taxpayer confidentiality it is not possible to provide comment on the progress of HMRC’s discussions with individual businesses about their supply chain controls.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with tobacco manufacturers on the control of their supply chain.
Answered by Simon Clarke
In 2006, Parliament introduced stringent rules requiring all UK tobacco manufacturers to control their supply chains. These rules required them to take steps to avoid supplying cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco to persons who are likely to smuggle them into the UK or resupply them to other persons who are likely to do the same.
Tobacco manufacturers can face penalties of up to £5m for failing to comply with the rules.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) robustly challenge tobacco manufacturers’ supply chain policies and procedures to ensure their continued compliance with the rules. This has involved ongoing contact and regular meetings between HMRC’s Large Business Team and manufacturers since the legislation was introduced.
One aspect of this ongoing contact is the requirement that manufacturers inspect seizures of over 100,000 cigarettes or 50kg of hand rolling tobacco and provide a summary of how those goods, if confirmed genuine, got in to the hands of smugglers. Large Business review and challenge these summaries to ensure manufacturers have taken appropriate action, in line with their own published supply chain policies.
Due to taxpayer confidentiality it is not possible to provide comment on the progress of HMRC’s discussions with individual businesses about their supply chain controls.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on the implementation of the business plan for the Economic Crime Strategic Board, announced in January 2019.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Economic Crime Strategic Board, co-chaired by the Chancellor and the Home Secretary, met for the first time on 14 January 2019. The Board, which includes senior representatives from the public and private sectors, was established to deliver a joint public-private response to tackle economic crime. The Board will set priorities, direct resources and scrutinise performance against the economic crime threat.
In its inaugural meeting, the Board commissioned the development of a shared public-private Economic Crime Plan and the development of a joint public-private economic crime threat update. The Economic Crime Plan will set out the public and private sectors’ collective ambition to combat economic crime and set out a series of concrete actions that both sectors will collectively undertake to enhance the UK’s economic crime response.
Since January, ongoing official-level work has taken place between the public and private sectors to deliver these products for the Board’s next meeting in July.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total Government spend per person in the Dover district local authority area has been in each year between 2009 and 2018.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
HM Treasury does not collect expenditure information on total government spend at a local authority level. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government produce local government expenditure statistics, which is part of total government spend. These statistics, along with population statistics are available at the following links:
Revenue financing and expenditure:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing
Capital expenditure, receipts and financing:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-capital-expenditure-receipts-and-financing
Population statistics at local level:
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of Government funding per head in the Kent County Council local authority area in each year since 2009.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
HM Treasury does not collect total government funding information per head at the local authority level.
Local government funding information is available via statistics published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and through the local government settlement, which is part of total government spend.
Local government finance statistics and population statistics are available at the following links:
Revenue financing and expenditure:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing
Capital expenditure, receipts and financing:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-capital-expenditure-receipts-and-financing
Population statistics at local level:
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that UK firms are prevented from avoiding tax by merging with dormant EEA companies under EU Single Market Rules.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government takes tax evasion, avoidance, and aggressive tax planning seriously and is committed to tackling it to ensure that everyone from individuals to the largest companies, pay their fair share.
The legislation implementing EU rules contains protections against abuse and HMRC will vigorously challenge any attempts to misuse provisions to avoid UK tax.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the average annual amount of income tax expressed as a proportion of total income paid by an individual in Dover constituency in each year between 2009-10 to 2017-18.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Increases to the personal allowance between 2010-11 and 2015-16 are estimated to have reduced the income tax liability of 28 million individuals in the UK in 2015-16. This includes taking 4 million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether. The corresponding figures for the South East, which includes Dover constituency, are 4 million and 532,000 respectively.
Estimates for the equivalent figures at constituency level are not sufficiently reliable.
Further increases, since 2015-16 to the personal allowance (up to £12,500 in 2019-20) and higher rate threshold (up to £50,000 in 2019-20) are expected to cut tax for 32 million individuals in 2019-20 compared with 2015-16. This includes taking 1.7 million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether. The corresponding figures for the South East, which includes Dover constituency, are 4.8 million and 234,000 respectively.
Estimates of the average amount of Income Tax as a proportion of Income for taxpayers in the parliamentary constituency of Dover between the tax years 2009-10 and 2015-16 are shown in the table below. Tax year 2015-16 is currently the latest year available.
Tax year | Average amount of Income Tax as a proportion of Income, Dover parliamentary constituency (taxpayers only) |
2009-10 | 14.7% |
2010-11 | 14.8% |
2011-12 | 14.4% |
2012-13 | 12.7% |
2013-14 | 13.3% |
2014-15 | 12.9% |
2015-16 | 13.1% |
These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes.