Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness and depth of co-operation with the authorities in the Republic of Ireland in their attempts to disrupt and prevent the illegal laundering and distribution of fuel.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimates the difference between expected revenues and the tax that is actually paid in the annual publication, Measuring Tax Gaps. These estimates cannot be disaggregated by type of fraud, for example laundering.
HMRC has estimated the total oils (fuel duty) tax gap (including VAT) as follows:
The estimate for 2015-16 was calculated using a different methodology and therefore cannot be compared to the estimates for subsequent years. The oils tax gap for 2015-16 was estimated to be less than £100 million.
The table below details the number of laundering plants detected by HMRC in NI & GB in each of the last three financial years.
LAUNDERING PLANT DETECTIONS | ||
YEAR | NI | GB |
2016-17 | 5 | 6 |
2017-18 | 10 | 2 |
2018-19 | 7 | 3 |
The routine sharing of information to identify trends and emerging threats developed over many years through the Cross Border Fuel Fraud Group has continued and further built upon by the Cross Border Joint Agency Task Force introduced as part of the Stormont House (Fresh Start) Agreement. HMRC and the Revenue Commissioners together with other partner agencies are represented at both the regular Strategic and Operational meetings and this continued collaboration has been key to successfully identifying and interdicting fuel related fraud in both jurisdictions.
The table below details the number of convictions secured for oils related criminality in the UK in each of last three financial years.
Financial Year | Number of UK Convictions |
16/17 | 25 |
17/18 | 6 |
18/19 | 7 |
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many successful prosecutions have been brought against those charged with the illegal laundering, distribution and sale of fuel in the UK in the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimates the difference between expected revenues and the tax that is actually paid in the annual publication, Measuring Tax Gaps. These estimates cannot be disaggregated by type of fraud, for example laundering.
HMRC has estimated the total oils (fuel duty) tax gap (including VAT) as follows:
The estimate for 2015-16 was calculated using a different methodology and therefore cannot be compared to the estimates for subsequent years. The oils tax gap for 2015-16 was estimated to be less than £100 million.
The table below details the number of laundering plants detected by HMRC in NI & GB in each of the last three financial years.
LAUNDERING PLANT DETECTIONS | ||
YEAR | NI | GB |
2016-17 | 5 | 6 |
2017-18 | 10 | 2 |
2018-19 | 7 | 3 |
The routine sharing of information to identify trends and emerging threats developed over many years through the Cross Border Fuel Fraud Group has continued and further built upon by the Cross Border Joint Agency Task Force introduced as part of the Stormont House (Fresh Start) Agreement. HMRC and the Revenue Commissioners together with other partner agencies are represented at both the regular Strategic and Operational meetings and this continued collaboration has been key to successfully identifying and interdicting fuel related fraud in both jurisdictions.
The table below details the number of convictions secured for oils related criminality in the UK in each of last three financial years.
Financial Year | Number of UK Convictions |
16/17 | 25 |
17/18 | 6 |
18/19 | 7 |
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Agriculture Flat Rate Scheme is applied equally across the UK; and if not, why not.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme is applied equally across the whole of the UK under the terms of the VAT Act 1994, section 54 and the VAT Regulations 1995, regulations 202-211.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union in Shields and Sons Partnerships v HMRC [2017] C262-16 that found that HMRC cannot exclude farming businesses from the Agriculture Flat Rate Scheme; and what estimate they have made of the number of farms in Northern Ireland which (1) were, and (2) are still, excluded.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
HMRC have accepted the Court of Justice of the European Union ruling and subsequent Upper Tribunal decision in the Shields & Sons Partnership case and are exploring options to ensure the rules regarding eligibility for the Agricultural Flat Rate scheme are clear, precise and objective for businesses and not open to abuse.
From 2008 to 2018 there have been a total of 70 known exclusions (refusal of entry into the scheme or subsequent removal from the scheme) of businesses in Northern Ireland from the Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme. HMRC are unable to provide an estimate of businesses that are still excluded as some of these businesses may have since registered for VAT.
These figures are based on management information and have not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.
Figures are not available for the period covering 1993-2007.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in regard to the Shields & Sons Partnership v HMRC [2017] C262-16 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
HMRC have been actively engaging with stakeholders across the agricultural sector to explore options to ensure the rules regarding eligibility for the Agricultural Flat Rate Scheme are clear, precise and objective for businesses and not open to abuse.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much revenue has been raised from frozen Libyan assets in London in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government’s response of 24 June to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee report (into Government support for UK victims of IRA attacks that used Qadhafi-supplied Semtex and weapons) set out the information the Government had obtained about tax receipts on frozen Libyan assets held in UK banks. The response states: “Around £17 million has been received in total since the start of the 2016-17 tax year. HMRC currently receives around £5 million each year.”Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any borrowing levels have been agreed for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly for the last three years for which figures are available; and if so, what those levels are.
Answered by Lord Bates
The aggregate and annual limits for capital borrowing for the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government are set out in Scottish and Welsh Fiscal Framework documents. The Scottish Government may currently borrow up to £3 billion in aggregate and up to £450 million in any year. The Welsh Government may currently borrow up to £1 billion in aggregate and up to £150 million in any year.
The Scottish Government have had capital borrowing powers since 2015-16 and have only used these powers in 2017-18. The Welsh Government have had capital borrowing powers since 2017-18 and have yet to use these powers.
Borrowing by the Northern Ireland Administration is set out in the Northern Ireland Loans Act 1975 as amended by Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006. This allows for total capital borrowing of £3 billion. The annual limit for borrowing is set by the Treasury and for 2018-19 is £250 million.
The amounts borrowed in the years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 are set out in the table below.
£million | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19* |
Scottish Government | 0 | 450 | 0 |
Welsh Government | n/a | 0 | 0 |
Northern Ireland Administration | 214 | 34 | 67 |
*The totals for 2018-19 reflect the borrowing recorded to date.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any sums of money have been transferred from capital accounts to revenue accounts for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly for the last three years for which figures are available; and, if so, what sums.
Answered by Lord Bates
Any transfers from capital to resource budgets must be approved by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Transfers from the Devolved Administrations’ capital to resource budgets for the past three years are set out in the table below.
£million | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
Scottish Government | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Welsh Government | 0.0 | 0.0 | 24.8 |
Northern Ireland Administration | 0.0 | 33.5 | 138.7 |
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what rules they apply to any applications from the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly to transfer monies for capital expenditure to revenue expenditure.
Answered by Lord Bates
Any transfers from capital to resource budgets must be approved by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Transfers from the Devolved Administrations’ capital to resource budgets for the past three years are set out in the table below.
£million | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
Scottish Government | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Welsh Government | 0.0 | 0.0 | 24.8 |
Northern Ireland Administration | 0.0 | 33.5 | 138.7 |
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what resources they have allocated for the purposes of preparing for Brexit to (1) Northern Ireland departments, and (2) local authorities in Northern Ireland; and how much they have allocated in each case.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Devolved Administrations are receiving their share of additional EU Exit funding in devolved areas through the Barnett Formula.
Through this process the Northern Ireland Block Grant has been allocated £2.3m in 2017-18, £15.2m in 2018-19 and £20.4m in 2019-20. It is for the Northern Ireland Administration to determine allocations to individual departments and local authorities in Northern Ireland.
In addition to this Barnett-based funding, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has received a further £16.5m in 2019-20 to reflect additional needs.