Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number of vehicles that were unable to use the Goods Vehicle Management System on 2 January 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
On 1 January 2023, there was a technical issue with the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) which affected some traders’ ability to move goods using the service. The issue was swiftly fixed and GVMS continues to work well.
We are aware that fewer than 15 vehicles were directed to attend Inland Border Facilities, due to traders’ customs declarations requiring further action following updates to the Customs Declaration Service. HMRC worked closely with affected traders to ensure their goods reached their destination as quickly as possible. We are not aware of any vehicles being directed to Inland Border Facilities due to the technical issue with GVMS.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many fines were issued by HMRC in 2022 for breaches of the UK's arms export regime.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
I refer the honourable member to the question UIN 117615 answered on 9 January 2023.
HMRC has issued 18 compound settlements from January to October 2022 for breaches of the UK arms export regime. The details for each of those settlements are within each of the following links:
Details of compound settlements for November and December 2022 are due to be released in the next few weeks. The details of which will be published at
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/notices-to-exporters#notices-to-exporters-2023.
Information on HMRC enforcement outcomes is published in the Strategic Export Controls Annual Reports which are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/united-kingdom-strategic-export-controls-annual-report.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with HMRC on technical problems affecting the availability of public helplines for self-assessments.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC have introduced a ‘Period of Restricted Change’ to protect live service by reducing the volume of changes made to our IT / Telephony service. This vastly reduces the risk of IT and Telephony outages.
Every January, HMRC introduce a Key Business Event wrap-around support for ‘Self-Assessment’ which in essence, provides protective guardrails across the end-to-end service, including the Online customer services and Telephony lines, but also the underpinning infrastructure, at this crucial business peak for HMRC.’
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps has he taken to help ensure that people can easily contact HMRC on the matter of self- assessments.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
January is the busiest time of the year for HMRC due to the Self-Assessment filing peak. Helplines are busy, and wait times are longer than usual.
HMRC encourages customers to check online instead of waiting on phonelines, saving them time and effort. The quickest and easiest way to manage tax affairs and answer queries is through the HMRC app or the personal tax account.
Customers can also go online to use HMRC’s digital assistant, guidance and helpsheets on GOV.UK, youtube videos and live webinars.
Every January, HMRC moves significant numbers of staff from other business areas to prioritise the Self-Assessment (SA) helpline to help people in the run up to the filing deadline.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of time HMRC public telephone numbers were not available in each of the last three years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In the last three years, there were 10 instances when HMRC’s telephony lines were unavailable. This equates to 0.0018 per cent of total hours over the three-year period.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many vehicles were sent to inland border facilities due to the failure of the Goods Vehicle Management System in January 2023.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
On 1 January 2023, there was a technical issue with the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) which affected some traders’ ability to move goods using the service. The issue was swiftly fixed and GVMS continues to work well.
We are aware that fewer than 15 vehicles were directed to attend Inland Border Facilities, due to traders’ customs declarations requiring further action following updates to the Customs Declaration Service. HMRC worked closely with affected traders to ensure their goods reached their destination as quickly as possible. We are not aware of any vehicles being directed to Inland Border Facilities due to the technical issue with GVMS.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many hours the Goods Vehicle Movement Service has not been operational in January 2023.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Goods Vehicle Movement Service has remained operational in January 2023 but experienced technical difficulties on 1 and 2 January which affected a limited number of movements. This was rectified by 21:00 on 2 January.Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the Goods Vehicle Management System was not operational in January 2023; and how much it cost to fix that system.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
On 1 January 2023, there was a technical issue with the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) which affected some traders’ ability to move goods using the service. The issue was swiftly fixed at no additional cost and GVMS continues to work well.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many fines were issued for breaches of the UKs arms export control in 2022; and if he will publish a breakdown of the (a) amount and (b) date of each fine issued for that purpose in that period.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC’s enforcement outcomes will be published in the UK Strategic Export Controls Annual Report 2022. This will be available on the GOV.UK website. This will include collated Compound Settlement details for this period.
HMRC publicises details of Compound Settlements throughout the year. These details are released through Department for International Trade Notices to Exporters.
HMRC has issued 18 Compound Settlements from January to October 2022 for breaches of the UK arms export regime. The details for each of those settlements are within each of the following links:
Details of compound settlements for November and December 2022 are due to be released in the next few weeks, the details of which will be published at
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/notices-to-exporters#notices-to-exporters-2023
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many vehicles were unable to use the Goods Vehicle Management System due to technical difficulties with the system on Monday 2 January 2023.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The disruption to the Goods Vehicle Movement Service only affected certain movements with customs declarations that had been made on 1 or 2 January 2023. HMRC worked with carriers and traders affected by the disruption and enabled vehicles to move across the border.