Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings senior officials of his Department have had with Lycamobile since 2015; and what the subject was of each of those meetings.

As a non-Ministerial department HMRC have operational independence from Treasury Ministers. Neither HM Treasury nor any Minister had any involvement in HMRC’s decision not to execute a French request for a search warrant on Lycamobile’s offices in the UK.

HMRC have made clear that they did not hinder the French investigation into Lycamobile’s offices in the UK. HMRC worked with the French authorities over a period of several weeks to help them understand the extent of the information that would be needed as part of a successful application for a UK search warrant. HMRC have stated that the decision not to execute the French request was taken on the grounds that the French authorities provided insufficient information to meet the statutory criteria for a UK search warrant, set out in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel and

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/senior-officials-expenses