Asked by: Corri Wilson (Scottish National Party - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will investigate the collapse of Bradford and Bingley plc in 2008.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The Government has no plans to conduct an investigation into the collapse of Bradford and Bingley plc in 2008.
The National Audit Office concluded in its report of 4 December 2009 that the public support provided to the UK’s banking system by the Treasury was justified, given the scale of both the economic and social costs if one or more major banks had collapsed. In providing that support, the Treasury met two of the Government’s principal objectives, namely maintaining financial stability and protecting retail depositors.
Asked by: Corri Wilson (Scottish National Party - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has target times for responding to written correspondence from members of the public; and what change there has been in the volume of written correspondence to HMRC from the public seeking information or assistance over the last three years.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) targets for responding to written correspondence received via post are to reply to 80% within 15 working days and 95% within 40 working days.
The volume of written correspondence received by HMRC has decreased over the past three years, and is currently at around one million items per month. HMRC regularly publishes general performance reports on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Corri Wilson (Scottish National Party - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many letters to HM Revenue and Customs from members of the public remained unanswered after (a) four, (b) eight and (c) 12 weeks in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold this data. However, they regularly publish general performance reports at Gov.uk.
Asked by: Corri Wilson (Scottish National Party - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cheques sent to HM Revenue and Customs from members of the public remained uncashed for (a) four, (b) eight and (c) 12 weeks in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs contracts the supplier BancTec to process cheques received from customers. Cheques are passed to BancTec on the day they are received, 99% of the cheques received are banked on the day of receipt. Over the last 12 months there was only one occasion when the cheques were not banked on the day of receipt. In one percent of cases further information is required, usually from the customer, to enable the cheque to be processed. Generally, all cases that require investigation are resolved within four working days.
Asked by: Corri Wilson (Scottish National Party - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the incidence of members of the public receiving multiple letters from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) conveying conflicting information; and what steps HMRC is taking to reduce such occurrences.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold this data. However, they regularly publish general performance reports at Gov.uk.
Asked by: Corri Wilson (Scottish National Party - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to improve HM Revenue and Customs' response times to written correspondence from members of the public.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has taken major steps to improve their customer service, including recruiting 3,000 new staff into customer service roles and undertaking their biggest-ever training programme to enable them to build customer support teams that can move across a wide range of work according to customer demand. HMRC have also introduced digital mail scanning to help manage the more than 1million items of post they receive every month.
Asked by: Corri Wilson (Scottish National Party - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the efficiency of HM Revenue and Customs in handling written correspondence from members of the public.
Answered by David Gauke
Such a review has not been carried out recently. However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regularly publish general performance reports at Gov.uk. HMRC targets for post are to reply to 80% within 15 working days, 95% within 40 working days, and 90% accuracy.