Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many households in (a) Kent, (b) Medway and (c) Gillingham and Rainham constituency have been affected by the freezing of fuel duty.
Answered by Priti Patel
Since 2011, the Government has taken action on fuel duty to support motorists, by abolishing the previous government’s fuel duty escalator, cutting fuel duty by 1 penny per litre in March 2011, and scrapping four planned increases over the parliament. The number of privately owned cars registered in the named constituencies to benefit from these actions are as follows:
Kent: 711,226
Medway: 120,806
Gillingham and Rainham constituency: 44,429
The Government does not hold information relating to the addresses of registered keepers, and therefore cannot provide data broken down by household.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on how many occasions HM Revenue and Customs has formally objected to the renewal of a retailer's alcohol licence for selling illicit tobacco in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Priti Patel
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Criminal Investigation (CI) is responsible for carrying out enforcement action to seize non duty paid alcohol and cigarettes, be they illicit or otherwise. Our Management Information (MI) does not differentiate between the different types of cigarettes or alcohol and we do not provide data on a regional basis, only national statistics. HMRC CI do record the number of arrests made but again this data is not differentiated between the different types of cigarettes or alcohol and we do not provide data on a regional basis only national statistics.
HMRC is not responsible for making an application to the courts for the revoking of a trader’s retail alcohol licence: that remains the responsibility of the appropriate Trading Standards office. Normally Trading Standards Officers will accompany HMRC CI officers when they visit a premises suspected of having non duty paid or illicit tobacco or alcohol products. If such products are found, then they can evidence the fact and take such action they deem appropriate. HMRC CI MI does not capture such referrals nor the results of any action that may be taken by the appropriate authority.
Similarly HMRC are not responsible for terminating a traders National Lottery Licence: that remains the responsibility of Camelot. Where HMRC CI seize non paid or illicit tobacco or alcohol products, there is a protocol for Camelot to be notified so they can take such action they deem appropriate. HMRC CI MI does not capture such referrals nor the results of any action that may be taken by the appropriate authority.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many arrests HM Revenue and Customs has made in (a) Medway and (b) Kent for offences relating to the sale of illicit cigarettes in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Priti Patel
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Criminal Investigation (CI) is responsible for carrying out enforcement action to seize non duty paid alcohol and cigarettes, be they illicit or otherwise. Our Management Information (MI) does not differentiate between the different types of cigarettes or alcohol and we do not provide data on a regional basis, only national statistics. HMRC CI do record the number of arrests made but again this data is not differentiated between the different types of cigarettes or alcohol and we do not provide data on a regional basis only national statistics.
HMRC is not responsible for making an application to the courts for the revoking of a trader’s retail alcohol licence: that remains the responsibility of the appropriate Trading Standards office. Normally Trading Standards Officers will accompany HMRC CI officers when they visit a premises suspected of having non duty paid or illicit tobacco or alcohol products. If such products are found, then they can evidence the fact and take such action they deem appropriate. HMRC CI MI does not capture such referrals nor the results of any action that may be taken by the appropriate authority.
Similarly HMRC are not responsible for terminating a traders National Lottery Licence: that remains the responsibility of Camelot. Where HMRC CI seize non paid or illicit tobacco or alcohol products, there is a protocol for Camelot to be notified so they can take such action they deem appropriate. HMRC CI MI does not capture such referrals nor the results of any action that may be taken by the appropriate authority.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on how many occasions a lottery retailing licence has been removed for selling illicit (a) cigarettes and (b) alcohol in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Priti Patel
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Criminal Investigation (CI) is responsible for carrying out enforcement action to seize non duty paid alcohol and cigarettes, be they illicit or otherwise. Our Management Information (MI) does not differentiate between the different types of cigarettes or alcohol and we do not provide data on a regional basis, only national statistics. HMRC CI do record the number of arrests made but again this data is not differentiated between the different types of cigarettes or alcohol and we do not provide data on a regional basis only national statistics.
HMRC is not responsible for making an application to the courts for the revoking of a trader’s retail alcohol licence: that remains the responsibility of the appropriate Trading Standards office. Normally Trading Standards Officers will accompany HMRC CI officers when they visit a premises suspected of having non duty paid or illicit tobacco or alcohol products. If such products are found, then they can evidence the fact and take such action they deem appropriate. HMRC CI MI does not capture such referrals nor the results of any action that may be taken by the appropriate authority.
Similarly HMRC are not responsible for terminating a traders National Lottery Licence: that remains the responsibility of Camelot. Where HMRC CI seize non paid or illicit tobacco or alcohol products, there is a protocol for Camelot to be notified so they can take such action they deem appropriate. HMRC CI MI does not capture such referrals nor the results of any action that may be taken by the appropriate authority.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of cigarettes on which tax has not been paid in (a) Gillingham and Rainham constituency, (b) Kent and (c) England in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Priti Patel
Estimates of the volume losses associated with the illicit market for cigarettes for the period 2008-09 to 2012-13 are published in ‘Tobacco Tax Gap estimates: 2012-13’. The figures are available in table 1.1.
These estimates cannot be disaggregated by the type of illicit activity, e.g. through smuggling, counterfeiting or other fraud, or by any geographical level lower than the UK.
The methodology for producing the estimates are provided in the ‘Methodological Annex for Measuring Tax Gaps 2013’.
The ‘Tobacco Tax Gap estimates” can be accessed via the following link: