Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many incorrectly refused Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claims are currently being investigated.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In order to decide if a case has been incorrectly refused, HMRC must obtain evidence of alleged errors and investigate them. Cases differ widely, and the time taken to resolve a case will vary depending on the circumstances and complexity.
HMRC have received a total of 7,293 complaints (up to 4 February 2021) relating to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Of this figure, 374 have been upheld, 225 have been partially upheld, and 5,579 have been rejected. A further 1,115 claims are currently being investigated.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many incorrectly refused Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claims have been investigated and resolved since the scheme began.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In order to decide if a case has been incorrectly refused, HMRC must obtain evidence of alleged errors and investigate them. Cases differ widely, and the time taken to resolve a case will vary depending on the circumstances and complexity.
HMRC have received a total of 7,293 complaints (up to 4 February 2021) relating to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Of this figure, 374 have been upheld, 225 have been partially upheld, and 5,579 have been rejected. A further 1,115 claims are currently being investigated.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claims have been incorrectly refused since the scheme began.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In order to decide if a case has been incorrectly refused, HMRC must obtain evidence of alleged errors and investigate them. Cases differ widely, and the time taken to resolve a case will vary depending on the circumstances and complexity.
HMRC have received a total of 7,293 complaints (up to 4 February 2021) relating to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Of this figure, 374 have been upheld, 225 have been partially upheld, and 5,579 have been rejected. A further 1,115 claims are currently being investigated.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claims that have been approved by HMRC but where a payment was not subsequently received by the applicant.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC do not have an estimate for the number of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) claims which have been approved by HMRC but not received by applicants, as all claims made within the necessary deadline will be paid six working days after they have been submitted via the online portal. The claims system has been running successfully.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many contractors have worked for HMRC whilst using disguised remuneration schemes.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are aware of 15 contractors who have used disguised remuneration (DR) schemes while engaged either by the department or by Revenue & Customs Digital Technology Services (RCDTS). In each of the cases, the contractors were engaged via an agency or a company providing a service.
HMRC do not engage in, or enter into, disguised remuneration schemes. It is possible for a contractor providing services to HMRC to use a disguised remuneration scheme without the department’s knowledge or participation. Where HMRC become aware of a contractor who is using a disguised remuneration scheme, they take robust compliance action, including the immediate termination of the engagement. Any contractor identified in the course of HMRC’s compliance work as a scheme user would be investigated in the same way as any other contractor.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people subject to the Loan Charge who were in settlement discussions with HMRC relating to the Loan Charge have reached a settlement on that matter.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC are currently preparing a report to Parliament on the implementation of the independent Loan Charge Review, which is due imminently. The report will include figures up to the 30 September 2020 deadline for taxpayers who settled their use of disguised remuneration tax avoidance schemes.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people who have declared bankruptcy as a result of the Loan Charge.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC do not want to make anybody bankrupt, and insolvency is only ever considered as a last resort. HMRC will work with individuals to reach sustainable and manageable payment plans wherever possible. In line with current practice, HMRC will pause recovery action where a taxpayer has no ability to pay, until there is a significant change of circumstance.
HMRC are not always the only creditor and some individuals may choose to enter insolvency themselves based on their overall financial position.
Anyone who is worried about being able to pay what they owe is encouraged to get in touch with HMRC as soon as possible on 03000 599110.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to work with international partners to extend the Debt Service Suspension Initiative beyond the end of 2020; and what plans he has to promote the inclusion of (a) private lenders and (b) multilateral institutions in that agreement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
To date, the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) has supported 43 countries which have requested suspensions by freeing up $5 billion to fund their COVID-19 responses. Given the depth of liquidity needs in these countries, the Chancellor supports an extension of the DSSI into 2021 and is working with his G20 counterparts to secure agreement on the extension.
The G20 agreed private sector DSSI participation should be voluntary and at borrowers’ discretion. The Chancellor continues to support this approach, which helps protect these countries’ hard-won market access which will be essential for financing COVID recovery. Where borrowers do make requests, private creditors should implement the DSSI. Where sovereign debt reductions are necessary, it will be important for there to be fair and timely burden sharing between all creditor types, including commercial creditors.
The G20 has supported the Multilateral Development Banks taking a “net positive flows” approach to complement the DSSI, ensuring that borrowing countries receive significantly more funds from the MDBs in 2020 than they repay. For the poorest countries, much of this funding will be on grant terms. This helps ensure the financial model of the MDBs remains sustainable, while allowing donors to target resources to support the most vulnerable countries.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2020 to Question 64944, on what dates Departments were (a) asked to identify reductions in their Official Development Assistance spend and (b) required to return that information to his Department.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As mentioned in my reply to you on 30 June, the government regularly discusses with departments the ODA funding allocated to projects, in order to ensure delivery of its commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on Official Development Assistance (ODA).
Since this commitment is linked to the size of the economy, the level of ODA spend is likely to decrease this year, and therefore commitments of aid spending are being reviewed across all departments.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) impact and (b) risk assessments the Government has made of planned reduced ODA spend across Government departments.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK has a legal commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) each year on Official Development Assistance (ODA). Given the expected fall in GNI this year, commitments of aid spending are being reviewed across all departments.
HM Treasury allocates ODA budgets to departments and is responsible for decisions on changes to these. Departments are responsible for assessing and assuring the impact and value for money of their ODA programmes on an ongoing basis in line with Managing Public Money. HM Treasury take evidence-based spending decisions and ensure departments maintain high standards of programme delivery that are consistent with HMG best practice.