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 Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2019 to Question 217548 on Human Trafficking and Immigration: France, whether any other payments in cash or kind have been made to France in connection with (a) border security, (b) infrastructure and (c) countering organised crime and people trafficking in addition to those set out in that answer.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
As previously advised in the response to Question 218262, the UK-France Migration Committee meets on a bi-monthly basis and is hosted alternately by the UK Home Office and French Interior Ministry. It is not Home Office policy to release detailed information on meetings that ministers and/or officials attend
As regards payments to the French Government, no additional payments have been made beyond those detailed in the response to Question 217548, dated 12th February 2019.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12th February to Question 218262 on UK-France Migration Committee, for what reason the dates and locations of those meetings were not provided in the answer.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
As previously advised in the response to Question 218262, the UK-France Migration Committee meets on a bi-monthly basis and is hosted alternately by the UK Home Office and French Interior Ministry. It is not Home Office policy to release detailed information on meetings that ministers and/or officials attend
As regards payments to the French Government, no additional payments have been made beyond those detailed in the response to Question 217548, dated 12th February 2019.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on the work plan of the National Economic Crime Centre, announced in September 2018.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) is part of a new, wider, "whole system" approach which will deliver a significant improvement in the UK's response to serious and organised crime. For the first time, the NECC brings together law enforcement and justice agencies, government departments, regulatory bodies and the private sector with a shared objective of driving down serious organised economic crime, protecting the public and safe-guarding the prosperity and reputation of the UK as a financial centre.
The NECC was formally launched on 5 November 2018. It includes officers from the NCA, HM Revenue and Customs, City of London Police, Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office. As the NECC evolves throughout 2019 and beyond it will build wider partnerships across the public sector, with regulators and the private sector, particularly with those businesses at risk from economic crime.
Asked by: Charlie Elphicke (Independent - Dover)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding his Department has allocated to the National Economic Crime Centre in financial year (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) is part of a new, wider, "whole system" approach which will deliver a significant improvement in the UK's response to serious and organised crime. For the first time, the NECC brings together law enforcement and justice agencies, government departments, regulatory bodies and the private sector with a shared objective of driving down serious organised economic crime, protecting the public and safe-guarding the prosperity and reputation of the UK as a financial centre.
The NECC was formally launched on 5 November 2018. The government recognises that the NECC forms an integral part of an enhanced system-wide response to tackling economic crime. For financial year 2019/20, the government has committed an additional £48 million investment to tackle illicit finance. This investment will fund the development of new capabilities including the NECC. Funding for financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22 will be subject to the outcome of the spending review.
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.