Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to prioritise the recovery of tax debts for those who have moved overseas.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC recognises the importance of ensuring taxpayers living overseas pay their tax debts like those living in the UK and has a dedicated team that manages the recovery of these debts. HMRC initially pursue overseas debts in the same way as UK debts where they will make attempts to contact the taxpayer through letters and phone calls.
Where a taxpayer does not respond, HMRC have a number of Assistance in Collection agreements in place with various countries. These agreements are reciprocal and allow tax authorities to recover debts on each other’s behalf. That country will use the same recovery processes and powers they do to pursue their own debts.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people in destitution.
Answered by Jo Churchill
I refer the Hon Member to the answer of 13 May 2024 to question number 902774.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that individuals living overseas are paying tax debts.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC recognises the importance of ensuring taxpayers living overseas pay their tax debts like those living in the UK and has a dedicated team that manages the recovery of these debts. HMRC initially pursue overseas debts in the same way as UK debts where they will make attempts to contact the taxpayer through letters and phone calls.
Where a taxpayer does not respond, HMRC have a number of Assistance in Collection agreements in place with various countries. These agreements are reciprocal and allow tax authorities to recover debts on each other’s behalf. That country will use the same recovery processes and powers they do to pursue their own debts.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) efficiency of and (b) resources available to HMRC's tax recovery strategy.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC’s approach to debt is to strike a balance between doing everything it can to collect the debt in a timely manner and taking more robust action where taxpayers do not engage or refuse to pay. More information can be found in HMRC’s published tax debt strategy on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to issue mandatory guidance to local authorities to ensure that all public washrooms include at least one male incontinence bin.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government encourages local authorities to consider such provision in public toilets to support those with this need but does not have powers to compel the provision of sanitary bins in public toilets. I would encourage the hon. Member to raise the issue locally.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to raise public awareness (a) on the need for male continence bins and (b) to reduce the stigma associated with those who use them.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I fully recognise the importance of ensuring that all men have access to the facilities they need so that they can dispose of their sanitary waste in a safe and dignified way.
Officials from relevant departments have met with representatives of the Dispose with Dignity campaign to discuss the provision of sanitary bins in public and workplace toilets and we are doing all we can to enable this to happen.
The campaign has been successful in emphasising the critical issue of ensuring that all men have access to the facilities they need, so that all men can dispose of their sanitary waste in a safe and dignified way.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help fill job vacancies in Portsmouth.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Jobcentre team are supporting residents into work and helping those in work to progress to higher paid jobs. We are working with local and national employers to help fill vacancies quickly, delivering Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs), recruitment days, Job Fairs, and work trials.
Our Youth Team works with the Prince’s Trust to provide additional support and courses to prepare young people who are not in education and training, including those without parental support, to attain training and employment.
The Jobcentre works closely with the National Careers Service who, after a successful trial, will deliver ongoing bespoke Group Information Sessions to customers who require a CV or need their current CV enhancing to apply for jobs.
The Jobcentre is hosting a bespoke Armed Forces recruitment event that will follow up on the UK’s national Armed Forces Day. This is in partnership with the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Additionally, the team in Portsmouth are working closely with local employers including Nature’s Way, Solent Sky Services and Thatched House (Greene King) to fill their job vacancies as well as working closely with partners such as the local Chamber of Commerce to offer regular Job Fairs focussed on specific sectors and customer groups.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of in-work Universal Credit claimants that have had payments stopped due to errors made by his Department in the last 12 months.
Answered by Jo Churchill
No estimate has been made. Customers can request a mandatory reconsideration if they do not agree with the decision to stop their Universal Credit.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support the long-term sustainability of the rail manufacturing sector.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The Government is committed to supporting a thriving UK-based rolling stock industry. The Department for Transport works closely with rolling stock owners and train operators to understand when new trains are likely to be required and seeks to ensure a regular flow of work for train manufacturers. Trains are major assets with a lifetime of 35-40 years so there will naturally be peaks and troughs in procurement cycles.
Since 2012, train operators have invested in around 8,000 new vehicles for the mainline railway in Great Britain. Despite the impacts of the Covid pandemic, there is now a strong domestic UK market for rolling stock procurement. Over 2,000 new vehicles are expected to be procured over the next few years, providing £3.6 billion of opportunities for train manufacturers. Rolling stock owners also continue to invest heavily in their fleets, with several major upgrades currently underway.
In January 2024, I wrote to train manufacturers to outline the pipeline of current and expected orders for new trains. This included details of current competitions for Northern, SouthEastern, Chiltern, TransPennine Express and an expected procurement by Great Western Railway.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the number of train cancellations in Q3 of 2023-24.
Answered by Huw Merriman
Performance varies across the network and is dependent on both reliable infrastructure and strong operator performance. Where we have both, as on Anglia, passengers enjoy great performance and I’m clear this is the standard for all operators to achieve working with their Network Rail route counterparts. I regularly meet Network Rail and train operators to encourage greater collaboration on day-to-day performance including convening a rail industry summit in March.
Reforming and modernising the railway is essential to delivering a more reliable rail network that is financially sustainable and improves the experience for passengers. Outdated working practices, like relying on voluntary overtime to run trains every day of the week, increases the likelihood of cancellations and prevents passengers getting the service they pay for and deserve.