Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has met with Mr Mark Samworth in the last six months.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what activity the cross-agency taskforce on the Panama Papers has undertaken since it was established.
Answered by David Gauke
The taskforce will report jointly to the Chancellor and to the Home Secretary. It will provide a progress report later this year which will set out the taskforce’s initial assessment of the information in the Panama papers and proposed actions for further analysis and strategy for pursuing any evidence found of wrongdoing and regulatory breaches.
The taskforce is jointly led by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA), with other partners including the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Financial Conduct Authority. The NCA, HMRC and others already regularly work together to tackle serious and organised financial crime of many types.
The UK multi-agency taskforce has begun analytical work on all the data published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in addition to continuing to develop a wide range of other intelligence which includes more than 700 HMRC leads with a connection to Panama. As part of this work, the task force is currently analysing and reviewing the names and addresses published by the ICIJ with alleged links to the UK and Mossack Fonseca.
While the sensitivity of the work means that it will not be possible to give a running commentary on any investigations, or number of investigations, Parliament will be kept updated on any significant developments.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, who in Government is responsible for overseeing the cross-agency taskforce set up to examine the Panama Papers.
Answered by David Gauke
The taskforce will report jointly to the Chancellor and to the Home Secretary. It will provide a progress report later this year which will set out the taskforce’s initial assessment of the information in the Panama papers and proposed actions for further analysis and strategy for pursuing any evidence found of wrongdoing and regulatory breaches.
The taskforce is jointly led by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA), with other partners including the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Financial Conduct Authority. The NCA, HMRC and others already regularly work together to tackle serious and organised financial crime of many types.
The UK multi-agency taskforce has begun analytical work on all the data published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in addition to continuing to develop a wide range of other intelligence which includes more than 700 HMRC leads with a connection to Panama. As part of this work, the task force is currently analysing and reviewing the names and addresses published by the ICIJ with alleged links to the UK and Mossack Fonseca.
While the sensitivity of the work means that it will not be possible to give a running commentary on any investigations, or number of investigations, Parliament will be kept updated on any significant developments.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which government department has responsibility for the cross-agency taskforce established to examine the Panama Papers.
Answered by David Gauke
The taskforce will report jointly to the Chancellor and to the Home Secretary. It will provide a progress report later this year which will set out the taskforce’s initial assessment of the information in the Panama papers and proposed actions for further analysis and strategy for pursuing any evidence found of wrongdoing and regulatory breaches.
The taskforce is jointly led by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA), with other partners including the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Financial Conduct Authority. The NCA, HMRC and others already regularly work together to tackle serious and organised financial crime of many types.
The UK multi-agency taskforce has begun analytical work on all the data published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in addition to continuing to develop a wide range of other intelligence which includes more than 700 HMRC leads with a connection to Panama. As part of this work, the task force is currently analysing and reviewing the names and addresses published by the ICIJ with alleged links to the UK and Mossack Fonseca.
While the sensitivity of the work means that it will not be possible to give a running commentary on any investigations, or number of investigations, Parliament will be kept updated on any significant developments.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any of the staff of the cross-agency taskforce examining the Panama Papers are working only on that taskforce.
Answered by David Gauke
There are upward of 100 people currently involved in the multi-agency Taskforce, some spending more of their time working on taskforce activity than others.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has begun its IMF Fiscal Transparency Evaluation.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
On 12 May 2016, Prime Minister David Cameron hosted a landmark international anti-corruption summit in London. A communique setting out a common approach to tackling corruption was agreed by participating countries and, where appropriate, international organisations. This included a commitment to undertake periodic assessments of fiscal transparency, as appropriate, using internationally adopted diagnostic frameworks, such as the IMF’s Fiscal Transparency Evaluation (FTE), the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) framework, or OECD budget review. Accordingly the UK has committed to undertake an FTE. This is not yet underway but the Government is already working with the IMF to agree arrangements.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what timeline he has set for all multinational companies operating in the UK to publish country-by-country reporting; and how that requirement will be enforced.
Answered by David Gauke
The UK initiated the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) work on country-by-country (CbC) reporting by large multinationals to tax authorities. The UK was one of the first countries to commit to the OECD model of CbC reporting with legislation in Finance Act 2015, and regulations were laid on 26 February 2016 setting the details of implementation in the UK, which apply to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2016. The UK together with 30 countries has signed the OECD Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) to exchange CbC reports.
The Chancellor has recently pressed the case for public CbC reporting on a multilateral basis. On 12 April 2016 the European Commission published a legislative proposal for public CbC reporting by large multinationals. The UK welcomes this work as a step in the right direction towards new international rules for greater public transparency.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that UK corporate tax rules do not incentivise companies to avoid tax in developing countries.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government is committed to making sure multinational enterprises pay their share of tax. The UK has been at the forefront of multilateral action through the G20 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to reform the international tax rules.
We used our Presidency of the G8 in 2013 to successfully initiate the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. The final recommendations were published by the OECD in October 2015, and endorsed by the G20 leaders in November 2015.
The BEPS project represents major and unprecedented efforts. The international project involved over 60 countries, including developing countries, to work together on an equal footing to better align the taxation of profits with economic activity and value creation.
The UK has been a leader on implementing the BEPS outputs – we have adopted the OECD country-by-country reporting template; and, at Budget 2016, the UK announced that it would be the first country to act on the OECD recommended rules on interest deductibility.
The UK will continue to participate in international efforts to address BEPS by participating in the OECD’s inclusive framework to monitor implementation, which also involves developing countries, and in work to develop toolkits to assist developing countries implementing the BEPS outcomes.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Minister for the Cabinet Office on promoting a fair global tax system at the Anti-Corruption Summit in May 2016.
Answered by David Gauke
Treasury Ministers are in regular dialogue with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.
This Government has played a leading role in tackling avoidance and aggressive tax planning, driving fundamental reform of the international tax rules and standards. We helped initiate the G20-Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project to make sure multinationals pay tax on profits where the economic activities that give rise to these are located. We have led the way in terms of implementation; legislating for the OECD model for country-by-country reporting to tax authorities, and adopting the OECD recommendations for hybrid mismatch arrangements and interest restriction.
At the Anti-Corruption Summit, we will seek to galvanize a global response to tackle corruption, as well as dealing with issues including corporate secrecy, government transparency, the enforcement of international anti-corruption laws, and the strengthening of international institutions. It will be an important opportunity for the Government to make the case for further international action on tax transparency.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of officials of his Department resigned in each of the last six years.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
A report was generated from the department’s data management system for the financial years requested. I can confirm that a total of 541 officials have resigned in the last six financial years. The proportion of resignations for each of those six years can be viewed in the table below.
| April 10 to March 11 | April 11 to March 12 | April 12 to March 13 |
Resignations | 92 | 104 | 82 |
Proportion of Officials (%) | 6.9% | 9.0% | 7.2% |
| April 13 to March 14 | April 14 to March 15 | April 15 to March 16 |
Resignations | 83 | 101 | 79 |
Proportion of Officials (%) | 7.5% | 9.1% | 6.3% |