Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Average Working Days Lost was in HMRC for civil servants who have (a) declared themselves as having a disability and (b) not declared themselves to have a disability in the calendar year (i) 2019 and (ii) 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The average working days lost for civil servants working in HMRC was as follows:
Disability declared
January 2019 – December 2019 = 12.18 days average
January 2020 – December 2020 = 10.73 days average
Disability not declared
January 2019 – December 2019 = 6.64 days average
January 2020 – December 2020 = 5.90 days average
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Average Working Days Lost was in HMRC for (a) female and (b) male civil servants in the calendar year (i) 2019 and (ii) 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The average working days lost for civil servants working in HMRC was as follows:
Female
January 2019 – December 2019 = 8.31 days average
January 2020 – December 2020 = 7.24 days average
Male
January 2019 – December 2019 = 5.80 days average
January 2020 – December 2020 = 5.32 days average
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Average Working Days Lost was in HMRC for civil servants (a) aged 30 and younger, (b) 30 to 50, (c) 50 to 60 and (d) over 60 in the calendar year (i) 2019 and (ii) 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The average working days lost for civil servants working in HMRC was as follows:
Age 30 and Under
January 2019 – December 2019 = 6.75 days average
January 2020 – December 2020 = 6.54 days average
Age 31 to 50
January 2019 – December 2019 = 6.88 days average
January 2020 – December 2020 = 5.88 days average
Age 51 to 60
January 2019 – December 2019 = 7.41 days average
January 2020 – December 2020 = 6.58 days average
Age over 60
January 2019 – December 2019 = 8.08 days average
January 2020 – December 2020 = 7.19 days average
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to provide emergency support for (a) AdLib and Blue Dog staff and (b) other workers who are eligible for furlough and who have been denied payments.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Legislation imposes a duty on HMRC to keep the taxpayer data they hold confidential. This means HMRC do not disclose information about any action they take in respect of a particular taxpayer, except in very limited circumstances, prescribed by law.
Employers can apply for the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme (CJRS) if they meet the eligibility criteria. It is for the employer to decide whether to offer furlough to an employee. Apart from enforcement of National Minimum wage obligations, which HMRC carry out on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, HMRC do not have a role in regulating the relationship between employers and employees.
Employees can contact ACAS if they have concerns that they have not been able to resolve with their employer.
Employees who have concerns that they have been furloughed and asked to work or have not been paid, can report suspected fraud to HMRC on GOV.UK.
Employees not eligible for the scheme may have access to a range of other support measures made available by the Government.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) artificial intelligence and (b) machine learning projects are being (i) undertaken and (ii) considered for his Department.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
No Artificial Learning (AI) or Machine Learning (ML) projects are currently being undertaken or considered for the department.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the current lease arrangements are for HMRC Regional Centres throughout the UK; what the (a) duration and (b) end date is of each those leases; and which of those leases contain break clauses.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC’s Regional Centres will have leases of 25 years’ duration with most containing breaks at 20 years; all include the ability to assign or sublet should the need arise. End dates depend on when each one starts, which varies according to individual site construction and fit-out programmes and when they are completed.
HMRC published their People and Equality Impact Assessments (PEIA) on GOV.UK on 17 July 2018. The PEIA sets out the action HMRC are taking to mitigate potential impacts of the Locations Programme, which includes additional support being put in place for employees. HMRC are currently undertaking the annual refresh of the document and will publish it when HMRC have been able to consider all necessary factors. In 2019, the annual update was published on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/people-and-equality-impact-assessment-for-hmrcs-locations-programme.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the results of the equality impact assessments that were carried out in relation to the HMRC redundancy programme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC’s Regional Centres will have leases of 25 years’ duration with most containing breaks at 20 years; all include the ability to assign or sublet should the need arise. End dates depend on when each one starts, which varies according to individual site construction and fit-out programmes and when they are completed.
HMRC published their People and Equality Impact Assessments (PEIA) on GOV.UK on 17 July 2018. The PEIA sets out the action HMRC are taking to mitigate potential impacts of the Locations Programme, which includes additional support being put in place for employees. HMRC are currently undertaking the annual refresh of the document and will publish it when HMRC have been able to consider all necessary factors. In 2019, the annual update was published on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/people-and-equality-impact-assessment-for-hmrcs-locations-programme.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of staff throughout HMRC; and whether he plans to recruit additional staff to HMRC as a result of his summer financial statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have a core role in supporting the Government’s fiscal and economic objectives. The Government ensures that HMRC are sufficiently resourced to deliver commitments made. As and when HMRC are asked to deliver new priorities, HMRC provide advice to ministers on the resourcing implications.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential for fraudulent claims in relation to the Eat out, help out programme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government expects the vast majority of organisations to do the right thing, but it is recognised that within any scheme there is potential for fraud. HMRC have carried out a risk assessment of the scheme, which includes reviewing the potential for fraudulent claims.
HMRC reserve the right to follow up on claims and take whatever action is necessary if people abuse the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme (EOHOS). In line with the other payment-out regimes they administer, HMRC will undertake pre-payment authentication and risking in order to identify and block fraudulent EOHOS claims, and will carry out proportionate risk-based, post-payment compliance checks.
Fraud and abuse of the scheme can be reported through HMRC’s online tax evasion reporting form, details of which can be found on GOV.UK.
All reports received by HMRC are subject to review and the appropriate and necessary actions are taken in response to the reports.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with ATOS and NS&I on proposed changes to staff pensions at National Savings and Investments; and what assessment he has made of the potential effectiveness of those proposals.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
National Savings and Investments outsources its operations to Atos. Atos is currently engaged in discussions with employees who previously provided services for NS&I - but are no longer working (or not working predominantly) on NS&I activity - and their trade unions on their pension arrangements. This is a matter for Atos and its employees.