Written Statements

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

Tuesday 8 November 2016

Civil Service Compensation Scheme

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Ben Gummer)]

Today I have laid an amended civil service compensation scheme before Parliament along with a report setting out the process by which we have sought to try to reach agreement with relevant trade unions.

The terms outlined in the civil service compensation scheme 2016 will come into effect from tomorrow, 9 November.

This amended scheme is in line with the Government’s response to the consultation on the civil service compensation scheme that was published on 26 September and the offer made to trade unions on the same day.

The Government have reformed the civil service compensation scheme to align with wider compensation reforms planned across the public sector, giving the civil service an effective, cost-efficient system to help civil servants leave when exits are needed. Our overarching aim will always be to provide the best possible service for the public and to create a civil service that treats our workforce with fairness and respect.

I believe that these reforms represent a strong negotiated settlement. It has been reached with trade unions that have engaged constructively in discussions. As a consequence we have an agreement that provides a firm foundation for the management of the civil service and its people for a generation. This administration will not seek to deviate from this agreement.

With this reform concluded, I want to work with trade unions on the aspirations we both have to make the civil service an even better place to work.

[HCWS240]

ECOFIN: November 2016

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) will be held in Brussels on 8 November 2016. EU Finance Ministers are due to discuss the following items:

Ministerial dialogue with the European Free Trade Association

ECOFIN will be preceded by a meeting of EU and EFTA Finance Ministers at which they will discuss issues of investment and economic growth.

Early morning briefing

Ministers will be briefed on outcomes of the 7 November meeting of the Eurogroup and the Commission will present an update on the current economic situation.

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has been invited to the session to discuss state aid and taxation. Vestager has responsibility for enforcing competition rules in the areas of antitrust, cartels, mergers and state aid.

Building a fair, competitive and stable corporate tax system for the EU

Proposals on: a common corporate tax base; a common consolidated corporate tax base; double taxation dispute resolution mechanisms in the EU; and hybrid mismatches with third countries were published on 25 October 2016. The Commission will give a presentation on its proposals which will be followed by an exchange of views.

Anti-money laundering directive

The presidency will present on the current state of play on the fourth anti-money laundering directive. That will be followed by a ministerial discussion on this topic.

Current financial services legislative proposals

The Council presidency will provide an update on current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.

Statistics

Ministers will be briefed on EU statistics including the 2016 statistical package, the progress made on strengthening co-operation with Eurostat, and the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board report on the implementation of the European statistics code of practice.

Council conclusions will be presented for endorsement by Ministers.

European Court of Auditors’ annual report on the implementation of the 2015 budget

The European Court of Auditors will give a presentation on their annual report on the implementation of the 2015 budget.

Implementation of the banking union

Ministers are to discuss the current state of play on the implementation of the banking union.

Packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs) regulation

The Commission will provide an update on the current state of play in relation to the entry into force of the PRIIPS regulation.

Criteria and process leading to the establishment of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes

Ministers will discuss draft Council conclusions on the criteria and process leading to the establishment of the EU list of non-co-operative jurisdictions for tax purposes.

[HCWS243]

Panama Papers Taskforce

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Philip Hammond)]

In his statement to the House on 11 April 2016, the former Prime Minister David Cameron announced the creation of a cross-agency taskforce to analyse all the information that had been made available from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)’s Panama papers data leak. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and I now wish to update the House on the work of the taskforce.

In its short existence, the taskforce has added greatly to the UK’s understanding of the evermore complex and contrived structures that are being developed to mask offshore tax evasion and economic crime. This intelligence will ensure that the UK remains uniquely placed to contribute to the international effort to uncover, and take action, on wrongdoing, regardless of how deeply hidden the arrangements are, as well as identify those jurisdictions where regulatory oversight requires improvement.

We can today report that the taskforce has:

opened civil and criminal investigations into 22 individuals for suspected tax evasion

led the international acquisition of high-quality, significant and credible data on offshore activity in Panama—ensuring the important work of the taskforce was not delayed by the ICIJ’s refusal to release all of the information that it holds to any tax authority or law enforcement agency

identified a number of leads relevant to a major insider-trading operation led by the Financial Conduct Authority and supported by the National Crime Agency

identified nine potential professional enablers of economic crime—all of whom have links with known criminals

placed 43 high net worth individuals under special review while their links to Panama are further investigated

identified two new UK properties and a number of companies relevant to a National Crime Agency financial sanctions enquiry

established links to eight active Serious Fraud Office investigations

identified 26 offshore companies whose beneficial ownership of UK property was previously concealed, and whose financial activity has been identified to the National Crime Agency as potentially suspicious

contacted 64 firms to determine their links with Mossack Fonseca to establish potential further avenues for investigation by the taskforce

seen individuals coming forward to settle their affairs in advance of taskforce partners taking action.

The taskforce’s respective partners will engage the relevant prosecuting authorities to bring any identified wrongdoing before the courts.

The Government have also invested to develop their expertise in data and intelligence exploitation. This has ensured that Departments and agencies are well placed to forensically analyse massive-scale data of this kind, which are becoming ever-more frequently available.

The taskforce has established a Joint Financial Analysis Centre (JFAC). Using the data and intelligence gathered from across the taskforce, the JFAC has developed cutting-edge software tools and techniques, ensuring the taskforce has access to the very best information from which to work.

The proactive acquisition of data, alongside the establishment of the JFAC, has enabled the taskforce to identify a number of areas for further investigation across the full range of tax and economic crime, as well as links to organised crime, which will be the focus of its work over the coming months.

Taskforce members are present in Panama, using established relationships with the Panamanian authorities, and working with diplomatic colleagues, to offer support to analyse all the available data. Taskforce members have also worked with international partners as part of the Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre to exchange information and intelligence as part of the wider international effort.

More generally, the Government have introduced tough new powers, increased penalties and game-changing measures to tackle offshore and onshore tax evasion. In the summer 2015 Budget, the Government gave HMRC an additional £800 million to invest in compliance and tax evasion work. This is expected to recover £7.2 billion in tax by the end of 2020-21. This includes tripling the number of criminal investigations that it undertakes into serious and complex tax crime, focusing particularly on wealthy individuals and companies. The aim is to increase prosecutions in this area to 100 a year, by the end of this Parliament.

The Government have also been pivotal in increasing global financial transparency in more than 100 countries, including British overseas territories and crown dependencies, by automatically sharing offshore account data. This additional data will help identify and pursue the tiny minority of tax evaders still hiding their money offshore.

The Government aim to make the UK a more hostile place for those seeking to move, hide or use the proceeds of crime or corruption. In October 2015, the Government published the national risk assessment for money laundering and terrorist financing to better understand the risks and vulnerabilities for the UK. The action plan, published in April 2016, and the Criminal Finances Bill, introduced to Parliament in September, will significantly improve our capabilities to tackle money laundering and recover the proceeds of crime, including proceeds of corruption.

The London anti-corruption summit earlier this year brought more than 40 countries together and resulted in a commitment to more than 600 actions. Since then, the UK has made real progress on its own commitments —our public register of beneficial ownership information is now live, the first G20 country to do so; and the National Crime Agency is working to get the new international anti-corruption co-ordination centre operational by next April.

[HCWS247]

Armed Forces Pension Scheme: Contingencies

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mark Lancaster)]

The armed forces pension and compensation schemes will be requesting a supplementary estimate in due course to address a shortfall in the net cash requirement amount, which originally appeared in the HM Treasury’s central Government main supply estimates 2016-17, published in July 2016 (HC 967).

This shortfall in the net cash requirement has arisen due to an inadvertent publishing error by HMT in the central Government main supply estimates 2016-17.

This will be corrected at the supplementary estimate stage; however, a Contingencies Fund advance has been sought in the interim, which will be repaid once the supplementary estimate is approved by Parliament and Royal Assent of the accompanying Supply and Appropriation Bill has been obtained.

Parliamentary approval for additional cash of £438,193,000 will be sought in the supplementary estimate for the armed forces pension and compensation schemes. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £438,193,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.

[HCWS249]

Future Reserves 2020: Update

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Sir Michael Fallon)]

On 29 June 2016 I informed Parliament (HCWS49) that, following the strategic and defence security review 2015, which set out the need to strengthen the armed forces’ contribution to UK resilience, the Army would in future plan to use Regular and Reserve phase 1 trained personnel in response to crises within the UK. This will increase the productivity, utility and size of force available in the event of a national emergency. To reflect this, the term “Trained Strength” will now include all personnel trained to undertake the core functions of the Army.

The public consultation on the presentation of revised Trained Strength figures for the Army Reserve has now been completed and we will commence publication of the new statistics from 1 October. I have agreed the following revised growth profile for the for the Army Reserve with the Chief of the General Staff; unchanged growth targets for the Maritime Reserve and Royal Auxiliary Air Force are included for completeness:

Environment Council: October 2016

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dr Thérèse Coffey)]

I attended the EU Environment Council in Luxembourg on 17 October along with the Minister for Climate Change and Industry, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd).

I wish to update the House on the matters discussed.

Effort share and land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF)

Ministers undertook a full round table debate of the Commission’s legislative proposals on the “non-ETS” package—the effort share regulation (ESR) and the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) regulation, published in July 2016. The Commission strongly welcomed the EU’s ratification of the Paris agreement and supported a focus on implementation via agreement to both the ESR and EU emissions trading system (ETS) directive. Ministers exchanged comments on a number of the technical aspects of the proposals. The UK noted the importance of swift agreement to the proposals in the context of implementation of the Paris agreement and, along with several other member states, supported taking the effort share negotiations in parallel with discussion on the EU ETS.

Any other business—39th International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) assembly: information from the Commission.

The presidency congratulated the role of the EU and member states in brokering the recent agreement for aviation at the ICAO general assembly in Montreal. It noted the further work to be done on implementation and underlined the relevance of the deal for the EU’s aviation emissions trading system (ETS).

The Commission hailed the landmark aviation deal and underscored the global and non-discriminatory nature of the deal. On aviation ETS, the Commission said it would present a proposal in early 2017 following an analysis of the ICAO deal.

Sustainable water management—Council conclusions

Ministers supported the adoption of the Council conclusions on sustainable water management. The Commission welcomed the conclusions and explained that it would come forward with a proposal to revise the water framework directive (WFD) in 2019 which would include options for member states to maintain ambitious objectives. The UK and other member states all welcomed the call in the conclusions for the Commission to work with member states to develop options well before the 2019 WFD review to allow continued high ambition post-2027.

Convention on biological diversity (CBD)—Council conclusions

The presidency circulated a compromise text to its draft Council conclusions in order to prepare the EU position for the conferences of the parties to the convention on biological diversity, the Cartagena protocol and the Nagoya protocol, which is to be held on 4 to 17 December 2016 in Cancun, Mexico. The Council adopted these conclusions following the agreement of a revised compromise text.

AOB—CITES conference of the parties 17: information from the presidency and Commission

The Council was updated on the outcome of the 17th convention on international trade in endangered species conference of the parties in Johannesburg last month. The Commission and the UK welcomed the outcome, with the UK praising the science-based approach which was taken, such as maintaining ivory market closure through retaining annotations to the four southern African populations of elephants on appendix II.

AOB—lessons learnt from the national emissions ceiling (NEC): information from Poland, Romania and Hungary

Some member states raised concerns as to how negotiations were conducted in reaching provisional agreement on this directive. The Commission appreciated that there had been compromises to get to an agreement but welcomed the overall achievement in getting to this stage.

AOB—identification of endocrine disrupting substances; information from the Danish, Swedish and Dutch delegations

The Council took note of this AOB item. The Commission noted that a communication on this issue had been presented at June Environment Council and that the Commission was reflecting on comments before putting forward a revised text to member states.

Other AOBs:

The Council noted information from the Commission and the presidency on the 28th meeting of the parties (MOP28) to the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.

The Council noted information from the presidency on the 2016 world conservation congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The Council noted information from the Commission on a communication from the Commission on a European strategy for low-emission mobility.

The Council noted information from member state delegations on natural resources management on the example of the Bialowieza Forest (information from Poland); and unspent funds from the new entrants reserve (NER300) funding programme (information from Cyprus).

[HCWS241]

Environment Council: November 2016

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)]

Agriculture and Fisheries Council will take place on 14-15 November in Brussels. I will represent the UK.

As the provisional agenda stands, the primary focus for fisheries will be a political agreement on fishing opportunities for EU vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks, and an exchange of views on establishing a multi-annual plan for demersal stocks in the North sea.

On agriculture there will be an exchange of views on: a report from the agricultural markets taskforce; EU agricultural research and innovation; and a study on the impact of concessions in free trade agreements on agricultural products.

There are currently nine confirmed Any Other Business items tabled for this Council:

Implementation of the landing obligation, including the potential issue of fisheries choke (tabled by the United Kingdom)

Completion of action plans for EMFF specific ex-ante conditionalities (tabled by the Commission)

Outcomes from the informal EU forest directors general meeting (tabled by the presidency)

Animal welfare during transport (tabled by Sweden)

Animal welfare platform (tabled by the Netherlands)

Endocrine disruptors (tabled by the Netherlands)

Ministerial conference on lumpy skin disease (tabled by Bulgaria and Austria)

Anti-microbial resistance (tabled by Denmark)

Use of geographical indications on foods which imply customary name (tabled by Greece).

[HCWS242]

Foreign Affairs Councils: November 2016

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Minister for Europe and the Americas (Sir Alan Duncan)]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs will attend the Foreign Affairs Council on 14 November. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence will attend the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) on 15 November. The Foreign Affairs Council and Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) will be chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. The meeting will be held in Brussels.

Foreign Affairs Council

The agenda for the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is expected to include the Eastern Partnership and the security and defence implementation plan (SDIP). The meeting will potentially also cover a range of countries from the southern neighbourhood including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran and Yemen. It is expected that Libya will also be covered.

Eastern Partnership

Ministers are expected to exchange views on recent developments in the six Eastern Partnership states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

Syria

Ministers will discuss Syria. The EU has already imposed sanctions against the Assad regime to restrict their capacity to wage war on the Syrian civilian population. The October Foreign Affairs Council agreed to impose further restrictive measures and 10 new sanctions listings have since been agreed. The October European Council Conclusions declared the EU to be

“considering all available options, should the current atrocities continue.”

The EEAS has proposed a revised EU Syria strategy and the UK will press for this to recognise that a political transition in Syria is vital to our shared interests on counter-terrorism and migration, and make recovery/reconstruction project funding conditional on a political transition. It is important that any EU strategy for Syria does not delay an EU response to the current situation inside Syria. We will encourage an EU approach that focuses on supporting the UN-led process, seeking a lasting political solution to the conflict and pursuing robust action against those who stand in the way of peace.

Libya

Discussions are expected to cover the latest developments in the Libyan political process. On 31 October the UK and US co-hosted a ministerial meeting which discussed Libya’s economic challenges and how to support the implementation of the Libyan political agreement. We will encourage the EU to consider how it can best continue to support the Presidency Council and Government of National Accord.

Security and Defence Implementation Plan

EU Foreign and Defence Ministers will discuss the security and defence implementation plan—part of the follow up to the European global strategy. We anticipate Council conclusions welcoming the SDIP and agreeing to take forward its proposals.

Foreign Affairs Council (Defence)

The FAC(D) will discuss the European Defence Agency, including the budget for next year; the Commission’s European defence action plan, where the Commission will update member states on progress; EU/NATO co-operation, where we will welcome progress so far and call for greater momentum; and ongoing CSDP operations and missions.

[HCWS246]

Ministerial Correction

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Tobias Ellwood)]

During the Westminster Hall debate on Iran-UK relations on 12 October my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Mr Bacon) asked a question regarding a planned meeting with the US and Iranians on banking issues. In response to that question I answered,

“In fact, we discussed that matter in some of the forums we had with leaders who have come over from Iran. I am very much focused on going back to that committee. Unfortunately, the very people who wanted to attend felt that they might trigger the sanctions simply by being at the meeting to discuss this matter. That is the cautionary environment that we now face.”

The correct response should have been that we recognise there may be some concern from UK and European banks and businesses in engaging in Iran-related trade, particularly those which employ US persons due to fear of non-compliance with US sanctions. However, we place huge importance on tackling the issues that have been raised by the banking community, and want our banks to be able to support British companies working legally in Iran. It is in our economic interest, as well as Iran’s, to support legitimate business. After years of restricted relations some challenges remain, but we are committed to working through them with international partners, Iran and the banking community.

To address these issues the Foreign Secretary hosted a banking roundtable with Secretary Kerry and the US Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) in London in May 2016. We subsequently arranged a second banking roundtable in July, to be hosted by the Foreign Secretary with OFAC and the Iranian Central Bank. Although the US participants arrived for the event, and were ready to engage, the Iranian delegation unfortunately did not attend, which led to the cancellation of the event. A meeting did, however, take place between the UK Government and OFAC officials to discuss the banking issues that we are working hard to resolve.

[HCWS2454]

Review of Terrorism Legislation

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Amber Rudd)]

In accordance with section 36(5) of the Terrorism Act 2006, David Anderson, QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, prepared a report on the operation in 2014 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and Part 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006, which was laid before the House on 17 September 2015.

I am grateful to David Anderson for his report and have carefully considered its recommendations and observations. I am today laying before the House the Government’s response (Cm 9357) to his report, copies of which will be available in the Vote Office. It will also be published on gov.uk.

[HCWS244]

Rail Update

Tuesday 8th November 2016 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Maynard)]

I wish to update the House on the programme of rail investment in the Great Western route and the steps we are taking to ensure this improves services to passengers while getting the best deal for taxpayers.

We are continuing to invest £2.8 billion in this electrification programme to provide faster journeys, more services, and better stations while providing new or upgraded trains for passengers, with thousands more seats, and increasing capacity for freight. It will improve the experience on over 100 million rail journeys each year, stimulating economic growth from London through the Thames Valley, to the Cotswolds, West Country and to South Wales.

It is a project unprecedented in scale that is building on and around ageing assets in constant use. This is an ambitious and challenging undertaking, but real progress is being made in delivering it.

Projects completed successfully this year include the digital upgrade of large sections of signalling to improve reliability, the modification of over 100 bridges and structures, flood alleviation work, significant improvements to the resilience of the Oxford route and the introduction of the first Great Western electric services between Hayes and Harlington and Paddington, which run between some of the busiest peak services in the country.

Works on the Severn tunnel this autumn made vital preparation for electrification between London and South Wales. Other enabling works include the progression of electrification towards the west, further re-signalling in Bristol, Cardiff and Cornwall, improvements at Bristol Temple Meads station, enabling works at stations throughout the route, provision of better access for disabled passengers at selected stations, and enhancements to depots from West Ealing in the east to Penzance in the west.

We have been clear that there have been difficulties with this programme. These were set out last year in the review of Network Rail’s delivery plan by Sir Peter Hendy. Following the re-planning of work that followed this review, the programme has been placed on a more efficient footing. A key part of this is the ongoing assessment of investment decisions so that passengers and taxpayers get maximum value.

As a result of this scrutiny from the Hendy review I have decided to defer four electrification projects that are part of the programme of work along the Great Western route. The four projects being deferred are:

Electrification between Oxford and Didcot Parkway

Electrification of Filton Bank (Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads)

Electrification west of Thingley Junction (Bath Spa to Bristol Temple Meads)

Electrification of Thames Valley branches (Henley and Windsor)

This is because we can bring in the benefits expected by passengers—newer trains with more capacity—without requiring costly and disruptive electrification works. This will provide between £146 million and £165 million in this spending period, to be focused on improvements that will deliver additional benefits to passengers. We remain committed to modernising the Great Western mainline and ensuring that passenger benefits are achieved.

This decision underscores the Government’s approach to wider rail investment: that passenger outcomes must be delivered in conjunction with achieving the best value from every pound spent.

[HCWS239]