Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list the organisations that attended HMRC Stakeholder Conference 2024.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The HMRC Stakeholder Conference was attended by 184 external stakeholders from a range of sectors and organisations, including professional bodies, agents, business representative organisations, businesses, customs, and the voluntary and community sector.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the median salary for an officer of the National Crime Agency was in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The median salary for an officer of the NCA as of March 2024 is £41,347.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what the annual budget for the UK Action Against Corruption programme (a) was in 2023-24 and (b) is for 2024-25.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The annual budget for the UK Action Against Corruption Programme in 2023-2024 was £5,921,089.
The projected budget for 2024-2025 is up to £6,685,000.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy during the Twelfth sitting of the Public Bill Committee on the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill on Tuesday 15 November 2022, Official Report, column 397, whether she has made an assessment of the prevalence of nominee partners being used to hide the person with significant influence or control over limited partnerships in the context of recent reports on that subject.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is aware that limited partnerships are being misused by rogue actors. This is why we legislated for reform of the law governing limited partnerships via the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.
Under these reforms, much more information will be required on the partners of all limited partnerships, leading to greater transparency. Companies House will also have greater powers to challenge, reject, share and remove suspicious information relating to limited partnerships.
In addition, the new Companies House intelligence hub will use data science to identify patterns and crack down on those trying to dodge the new requirements.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy during the Twelfth sitting of the Public Bill Committee on the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill on Tuesday 15 November 2022, Official Report, column 397, whether she has made a recent assessment of the prevalence of limited partnerships (LP) owning assets in the context of reports of LPs owning oil tankers and other vessels.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My Department and Companies House closely monitor reports of potential misuse of corporate structures registered in the UK.
The Government is well aware of the risks around misuse of limited partnerships, which is why we acted through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 to introduce the biggest changes to limited partnership law since 1907. The reforms will crack down on the abuse of all UK limited partnerships, including requiring much more information on the partners and greater controls over their formation.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much was (a) allocated to and (b) spent by each (i) unit and (ii) project funded by his Department's UK Action Against Corruption programme in each financial year from 7 December 2009 to 31 March 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer to Question 12219 given on 8 February 2024.
The budget and spend on the UK Action to Support Developing Countries Fighting Corruption Programme are provided in the below table. This includes budget and spend in previous iterations of the Programme.
Financial Year | National Crime Agency | Crown Prosecution Agency | City of London Police* | Metropolitan Police Service* | UK Central Authority |
2009/10 Budget | - | - | - | - | - |
2009/10 Spend | £128,933.00 | - | £316,271.68 | £243,000.00 | - |
2010/11 Budget | - | - | - | - | - |
2010/11 Spend | £28,059.00 | £4,855.00 | £889,816.90 | £701,969.30 | - |
2011/12 Budget | - | - | - | - | - |
2011/12 Spend | - | £132,713.70 | £900,205.38 | £759,999.83 | - |
2012/13 Budget | - | - | - | - | - |
2012/13 Spend | £211,500.00 | £140,784.47 | £1,122,820.87 | £938,476.84 | - |
2013/14 Budget | - | - | - | - | - |
2013/14 Spend | £201,984.25 | £169,834.41 | £1,318,601.56 | £1,168,001.00 | - |
2014/15 Budget | - | - | - | - | - |
2014/15 Spend | £419,512.99 | £183,043.61 | £1,314,870.58 | £1,352,288.50 | - |
2015/16 Budget | £2,824,469.00 | £194,887.00 | £655,218.00 | £219,462.00 | - |
2015/16 Spend | £1,928,332.37 | £215,639.41 | £612,753.00 | £108,953.74 | - |
2016/17 Budget | £3,912,796.00 | £231,748.00 | £404,426.00 | - | - |
2016/17 Spend | £2,748,325.44 | £216,546.87 | £455,877.74 | - | - |
2017/18 Budget | £4,361,241.00 | £244,761.00 | £240,000.00 | - | - |
2017/18 Spend | £3,875,640.69 | £261,205.19 | £191,936.82 | - | - |
2018/19 Budget | £4,443,003.00 | £272,931.00 | £180,700.00 | - | - |
2018/19 Spend | £4,869,794.62 | £252,941.12 | £180,471.24 | - | - |
2019/20 Budget | £4,610,853.00 | £272,931.00 | £170,000.00 | - | - |
2019/20 Spend | £4,230,454.11 | £300,146.87 | £233,218.28 | - | - |
2020/21 Budget | £5,656,027.00 | £317,000.00 | £117,943.00 (Budget for FY 2020/21 and 2021/22) | - | £254,788.00 |
2020/21 Spend | £5,538,861.87 | £313,544.41 | £36,444.55 | - | £180,032.77 |
2021/22 Budget | £5,023,000.00 | £213,000.00 | £117,943.00 (Budget for FY 2020/21 and 2021/22) | - | £65,608.00 |
2021/22 Spend | £4,699,253.60 | £213,000.00 | £18,643.20 | - | £54,776.10 |
2022/23 Budget | £4,764,774.00 | £213,000.00 | - | - | - |
2022/23 Spend | £5,006,953.80 | £213,000.00 | - | - | - |
*The Metropolitan Police Service Proceeds of Corruption Team (POCU) and the work of the City of London Police Overseas Anti-Corruption Unit (OACU) were merged with the National Crime Agency in 2015. OACU funding continued to complete legacy cases until 2021/22. The UK Central Authority funding began in 2020 but then was cut as a result of Covid budget priorities.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide a list of the attendees at the HMRC's stakeholder conference on 16 February 2024.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are unable to provide specific details of the individuals who attended as this would be in breach of GDPR rules.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an estimate of the (a) number and proportion of permanent staff in the National Crime Agency's International Corruption Unit who were in the unit for more than 12 months and (b) staff attrition rate from that unit in the last two financial years.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The International Corruption Unit (ICU) is the dedicated team within the NCA that investigates serious criminal allegations of bribery and corruption.
We are unable to disclose the number of staff employed in the ICU as that information is operationally sensitive. However, in 2022/23, 86% of staff had been in the unit for more than 12 months. In 2021/22 it was 84% of staff.
The ICU staff annual attrition rate was recorded at 5.5% in both 2021/22 and 2022/23.
Due to complexities on deriving the figure, the NCA is unable to provide the average years of staff service.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data his Department holds on the number of full-time equivalent staff in the National Crime Agency International Corruption Unit (a) in total and (b) who were funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's UK Action Against Corruption programme between 7 December 2009 and 31 March 2023.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The International Corruption Unit (ICU) was not formed until 2015, so we do not hold any information prior to this date.
We are unable to disclose the number of staff employed in the ICU as that information is operationally sensitive. However, as of March 2024 the percentage of staff in the ICU, funded by the FCDO UK Action Against Corruption Programme, is 76%.
This is broadly comparable over the programme’s funding period.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions for money laundering offences HM Revenue and Customs brought against individuals in each year since 2013; and how many of those prosecutions resulted in a conviction in each of those years.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the right hon. Member for Barking to the answer I gave on 11 March 2024 to Question UIN 16576 .