Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Urge the Indian Government to ensure safety of protestors & press freedom
Gov Responded - 15 Feb 2021 Debated on - 8 Mar 2021 View 's petition debate contributionsThe Government must make a public statement on the #kissanprotests & press freedoms.
India is the worlds largest democracy & democratic engagement and freedom of the press are fundamental rights and a positive step towards creating a India that works for all.
These initiatives were driven by Pat McFadden, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Pat McFadden has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Pat McFadden has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Transparency and Accountability (European Union) Bill 2015-16
Sponsor - Caroline Lucas (GRN)
Although no investigations have been formally announced, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating a number of suspected fraudulent applications for COVID loans.
In order to protect the investigative process, it is not always possible, or even desirable, for investigative bodies such as the SFO to announce investigations prematurely, or provide any details of the matters under investigation. The SFO proactively publishes information about its cases on its website whenever it is appropriate
SFO investigations follow the evidence, and their focus or scope may change as an investigation advances. The number of staff working on a specific case will fluctuate throughout an investigation’s lifecycle and will depend on factors such as the complexity of the allegations being investigated, and intelligence gathered or provided.
Although no investigations have been formally announced, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating a number of suspected fraudulent applications for COVID loans.
In order to protect the investigative process, it is not always possible, or even desirable, for investigative bodies such as the SFO to announce investigations prematurely, or provide any details of the matters under investigation. The SFO proactively publishes information about its cases on its website whenever it is appropriate
SFO investigations follow the evidence, and their focus or scope may change as an investigation advances. The number of staff working on a specific case will fluctuate throughout an investigation’s lifecycle and will depend on factors such as the complexity of the allegations being investigated, and intelligence gathered or provided.
The Terms of Reference of the Domestic and Economic (Efficiency and Value for Money) Committee are to drive efficiency, effectiveness and economy in government spending, and scrutinise plans to manage major current and future cost pressures. Further details about this committee were released on GOV.UK on 20 March 2022, accessible below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-efficiency-drive-to-cut-55-billion-of-government-waste.
There are a number of Cabinet Committees that could take agenda items related to civil service staffing. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees is not normally shared publicly.
The government publishes an Annual Fraud Landscape Report or Bulletin. The 2019/20 Fraud Landscape Bulletin states that our best estimate of the total fraud and error losses to the government is between £29bn and £52bn per year. This is an estimate built from the best available evidence on fraud and error loss.
HMRC produces annual estimates of loss (Measuring Tax Gaps) based on statistical sampling. The closest fit to fraud and economic crime are the criminal attacks and evasion categories. HMRC also produces a loss estimate for tax credits - this is made up of fraud and error - not just fraud. Since 2017 (1), HMRC has reported ‘additional tax generated,’ which is made up of a wide range of compliance activities to recover due tax, not all related to fraud. With regards to serious tax fraud, the HMRC Fraud Investigation Service has recovered over £1bn of criminal assets using a combination of both civil and criminal recovery powers over the last 5 years.
| 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 |
HMRC Criminal Attacks and Evasion + Tax Credit Estimated loss | £11.3bn | £11.6bn | £10.8bn | £11.2bn | £11.6bn |
HMRC Additional Tax Generated | n/a | n/a | £26.1bn | £29.3bn | £31.8bn |
DWP produces annual estimates of the fraud and error in the benefit system based on statistical sampling. The losses are apportioned between fraud and error. DWP also produces figures on recoveries of overpaid benefit each year, however, is it not possible to break this down to just fraud - it is made up of fraud, claimant error and official error. DWP’s reporting includes 2020/21 which shows a marked increase in loss level post-pandemic.
| 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 | 20/21 |
DWP Estimated Value of Fraud and Error | £3.6bn | £3.8bn | £3.9bn | £4.6bn | £8.4bn |
DWP Estimated Value of Fraud | £2.0bn | £2.2bn | £2.1bn | £2.8bn | £6.3bn |
DWP Recovered Fraud and Error (Official and Claimant) | £1.1bn | £1.1bn | £1.1bn | £1.0bn | £800m |
The ‘rest of government’ (e.g. not HMRC and DWP) report detected fraud and recoveries through centrally and this is published in the Government’s Annual Fraud Landscape Report or Bulletin. Information on fraud recoveries was not collected until 2016/17. The rest of government figures are below:
| 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 (2) |
Rest of Govt Detected Fraud | £73.6m | £119m | £151m | £99m | £227m |
Rest of Govt Recovered Fraud | n/a | n/a | £12m | £22m | £26m |
(1) The CCG (Customer Compliance Group) was created in 2017, hence the inability to report previous figures.
(2) The 19/20 figures largely predate Covid-related fraud.
This government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage.
In April 2022, the National Living Wage increased to £9.50 per hour.
By 2024, the Government have committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings.
As of 12 July 2022, the total number of direct employees, contractors and agency workers in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy earning below the Real Living Wage rate of £9.90 per hour was zero.
As pay and conditions are set between employee and employer, the Department does not hold records on contractors. The Crown Commercial Service’s frameworks set a minimum requirement of the current wage legislation, which all suppliers must adhere to when negotiating contracts with Government Departments.
Energy suppliers will deliver this support to households with a domestic electricity meter over six months from October. Customers with pre-payment meters will have the money applied to their meter or paid via a voucher.
The proportion for prepayment meters as well as direct debit would be 20%. This calculation is for an average household with a due fuel tariff which uses 12,000 kWh of gas and 2,900 kWh of electricity and what proportion of this the £400 grant would thus make up.
The Bounce Back Loan Scheme Guarantee Agreement and subsequent recovery principles document outline the Bank’s requirements and expectations for lenders participating in the scheme, including in terms of recoveries. The overall approach is that recoveries should be pursued in line with the lender’s existing standards for its own commercial lending. Under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, lenders are expected to follow their own commercial procedures.
The ongoing lender audit assurance programme assesses the performance of lenders including in relation to their recovery activities. Where issues are identified the Bank can take remedial action.
The British Business Bank does not capture this information as part of its data recording. However, the Department has been objecting to strike-off proposals from companies that have outstanding government-backed loans. This policy was launched on the Bounce Back Loan Scheme in April 2021 and was extended to include CBILS, CLBILS and RLS in August 2021.
Through the bulk objection scheme, 63,968 companies have been prevented from striking off whilst holding a BBLS, CBILS, RLS or Future Fund facility. These facilities are worth £2.2 billion in total.
While the British Business Bank looks into Greensill’s position, it is not able to originate new lending that benefits from a Government guarantee.
Greensill Capital was approved by the British Business Bank in June last year to provide finance through the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
This Government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2022, the National Living Wage increased to £9.50 per hour. By 2024, the government has committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings.
Public Bodies sponsored by DCMS, are their own employer and make their own decisions on pay, within the parameters of the Civil Service pay remit guidance.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 July 2022 to Question 30189.
As of 6 July 2022, and taking into account relevant allowances such as London Weighting, the following organisations have direct employees (including apprentices) on wages lower than the Living Wage Foundation published rates. Where numbers in an organisation are below five individuals, this has been redacted at organisation level but included in overall totals.
Organisation | London | National | Total |
Animal and Plant Health Agency | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CEFAS | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Consumer Council for Water | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Defra | 11 | 0 | 0 |
Environment Agency | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Forestry Commission | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Joint Nature Conservancy Council | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Kew | 80 | 0 | 80 |
Marine Management Organisation | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Natural England | 0 | 95 | 95 |
Ofwat | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rural Payments Agency | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 91 | 104 | 195 |
For Natural England, a pay review is due with effect from 1 July which will uplift all employees above the Living Wage Foundation published rates.
For the Consumer Council for Water, with effect from 11 July, due to a change in responsibilities, no employees will remain below the Living Wage Foundation threshold.
Wage information relating to contractors is not held. The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 are complied with by all organisations, which ensure parity of pay for agency workers with rates paid to employees. As pay and conditions are set between employee and employer, records are not held on Agencies and/or Contractors. The Crown Commercial Service’s frameworks set a minimum requirement of the current legislative amounts allowed by employers to pay, which all suppliers must adhere to when negotiating contracts with Government Departments.
This government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2022, the National Living Wage increased to £9.50 per hour. By 2024, the Government has committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings.
The Government will always award contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayer.
The Department for International Trade does not have any direct employees, contractors or agency workers that receive a wage below the UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London or the London Living Wage inside of Greater London.
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care or in general practitioners surgeries, local authorities or other providers.
The following table shows the number of chiropodists employed at National Health Service trusts and CCGs as at October 2019, the latest available data compared to October 2010, full time equivalent.
October 2010 | October 2019 | Change | % Change |
3,072 | 2,703 | -369 | 12% |
There is no dedicated National Health Service budget for chiropody training, now formally called podiatry. Funding for elements of training, such as clinical placements, is included within the education and training tariff and paid to placement providers by Health Education England.
In December 2019 the Government announced additional maintenance grant funding, which will be available from September 2020 for new and continuing students of £5,000. In addition, students with child dependants will benefit from an extra £1,000 and new students studying a specialist subject including podiatry will be able to access a further £1,000. These grants are on top of student loan allowances and do not need to be re-paid.
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: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.
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:
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:
As the Chancellor laid out in his speech at Mansion House on Tuesday 19th July, the Government will take forward reforms to the UK’s regulatory framework for capital markets in the Financial Services and Markets Bill.
In particular, the Bill will increase the competitiveness of our capital markets, allowing us to reform the Prospectus Regime, as recommended by Lord Hill. It will also take forward outcomes of the Wholesale Capital Markets review, stripping away poorly crafted EU rules like the double volume cap and the share trading obligation.
The roadmap for the delivery of the full set of reforms under the WMR is set out in detail in the recent consultation and consultation response document, which are both available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/uk-wholesale-markets-review-a-consultation.
While the Government has set out its prioritisation for its capital markets reforms, the exact timeline for delivery will rely on Parliamentary timetabling.
The Government keeps all tax policy under review, and the Chancellor attends policy discussions with officials as part of this process.
The Government received 86 responses to its consultation on the regulation of Buy-Now Pay-Later. A list of respondents can be found in Annex A of the Government’s consultation response at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/regulation-of-buy-now-pay-later-consultation
Treasury Ministers and officials have held meetings with a wide variety of interested parties as part of the process of policy development and delivery. These have included meetings with consumer groups, with financial services sector trade bodies, and with a number of individual firms that will be affected by the regulation of Buy-Now Pay-Later.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
I refer the rt Hon Member to my answer of 19 July to PQ UIN 36751.
At Spring Budget 2021 the Government announced a £100 million investment into the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. The taskforce was established to extend HMRC’s work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID support schemes that they administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and Eat Out to Help Out). The taskforce does not deliver compliance across schemes administered outside HMRC.
Anyone who keeps grant money despite knowing they were not entitled to it, faces having to repay up to double the amount they received, plus interest and potentially criminal prosecution.
HMRC identifies claims for compliance checks where the amount of the claim is out of step with other information. The risk that the claim is incorrect may be due to either an honest mistake or fraud, therefore, the value of recovered grants does not distinguish between error and fraud.
As of July 2022, the taskforce was made up of 1,155 full-time equivalent staff (FTE). The FTE will vary across the year. The resource commitment is proportionate to the number of high-risk claims made and the risks posed by error and fraud in the HMRC administered schemes.
The taskforce commenced activity from April 2021 and will build on the £536 million already recovered in 2020-21. Taskforce performance for 2021-22 is covered in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22, which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022. This is in addition to the amounts that HMRC prevented from being paid out on incorrect claims.
At Spring Budget 2021 the Government announced a £100 million investment into the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. The taskforce was established to extend HMRC’s work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID support schemes that they administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and Eat Out to Help Out). The taskforce does not deliver compliance across schemes administered outside HMRC.
Anyone who keeps grant money despite knowing they were not entitled to it, faces having to repay up to double the amount they received, plus interest and potentially criminal prosecution.
HMRC identifies claims for compliance checks where the amount of the claim is out of step with other information. The risk that the claim is incorrect may be due to either an honest mistake or fraud, therefore, the value of recovered grants does not distinguish between error and fraud.
As of July 2022, the taskforce was made up of 1,155 full-time equivalent staff (FTE). The FTE will vary across the year. The resource commitment is proportionate to the number of high-risk claims made and the risks posed by error and fraud in the HMRC administered schemes.
The taskforce commenced activity from April 2021 and will build on the £536 million already recovered in 2020-21. Taskforce performance for 2021-22 is covered in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22, which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022. This is in addition to the amounts that HMRC prevented from being paid out on incorrect claims.
All ministerial responsibilities are published on gov.uk.
Treasury Ministers and officials regularly engage with the National Crime Agency and Taxpayer Protection Taskforce to discuss shared policy interests, such as the response to fraud.
The Government has invested over £100 million in the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce to combat fraud on the HMRC Covid-19 schemes, one of the largest and quickest responses to a fraud risk by HMRC.
In 2021-22 the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce prevented more than £350 million from being lost through error and fraud in the COVID-19 financial support schemes. Overall, since the start of the schemes, the amount of money either recovered or blocked from being paid out totals more than £1.2 billion, with compliance activity still ongoing.
As of 31/03/2022, the total number of full-time employees in HM Treasury earning below the London Living Wage rate of £11.05 per hour was 17. This number is comprised mainly of apprentices. The Living Wage rate is a suggested rate of pay by the Living Wage Foundation, rather than a legislated minimum wage.
All HM Treasury employees are paid above the statutory minimum wage. Since 31/03/2022 we have been conducting a review of all pay ranges across the department in line with this year’s Cabinet Office remit guidance.
As pay and conditions are set between employee and employer, the rate of pay for agency workers and contractors will be determined by the company for which they work and not HM Treasury.
As the Chancellor set out in his statement on the cost of living support the Government is urgently evaluating the scale of extraordinary profits in the energy generation sector and the appropriate next steps.
As part of this process, and to mitigate potential uncertainty, officials are urgently engaging with industry stakeholders on this matter.
The Member’s letter of 8 December was passed to BEIS to reply and the response was issued on 22 December.
I responded to the Member’s letter of 19 December on 31 January.
Throughout the pandemic, the Government’s number one priority has been to protect jobs and livelihoods whilst also supporting businesses and public services across the UK.
The overwhelming majority of people that claimed Covid-19 support did so legitimately. HMRC is also aware that mistakes can happen, which is why HMRC is supporting people who made a mistake to correct it. Those who keep money claimed from any of the Covid-19 support schemes despite knowing they were not entitled to it face having to repay up to double the amount they received, plus interest, and potentially criminal prosecution in the most serious of cases.
As published in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21, over 1,300 Full Time Equivalent staff were deployed onto the COVID schemes during 2020-21. The full report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021
The Government has since invested over £100 million in a Taxpayer Protection Taskforce of over 1,200 Full Time Equivalent of HMRC staff to combat fraud and error within the HMRC Covid-19 schemes, one of the largest and quickest responses to a fraud risk by HMRC.
The taskforce is funded for two years up to the year 2022-23 and will enable HMRC to increase their one-to-one checks to 30,000. The Taskforce is expected to recover between £800 million to £1 billion in overpayments.
Up to November 2021, HMRC issued over 74,000 letters asking claimants to check their claims and self-correct if they had got it wrong, and opened over 26,000 one-to-one checks where there was a risk that the grant had been overclaimed. HMRC’s 2020-21 compliance results for the Covid-19 schemes amounted to over £830 million, achieved by preventing losses by pre-payment activity and recovering overclaimed grants.
Taskforce performance for the year 2021-22 will be published in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22.
Throughout the pandemic, the Government’s number one priority has been to protect jobs and livelihoods whilst also supporting businesses and public services across the UK.
The overwhelming majority of people that claimed Covid-19 support did so legitimately. HMRC is also aware that mistakes can happen, which is why HMRC is supporting people who made a mistake to correct it. Those who keep money claimed from any of the Covid-19 support schemes despite knowing they were not entitled to it face having to repay up to double the amount they received, plus interest, and potentially criminal prosecution in the most serious of cases.
As published in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21, over 1,300 Full Time Equivalent staff were deployed onto the COVID schemes during 2020-21. The full report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021
The Government has since invested over £100 million in a Taxpayer Protection Taskforce of over 1,200 Full Time Equivalent of HMRC staff to combat fraud and error within the HMRC Covid-19 schemes, one of the largest and quickest responses to a fraud risk by HMRC.
The taskforce is funded for two years up to the year 2022-23 and will enable HMRC to increase their one-to-one checks to 30,000. The Taskforce is expected to recover between £800 million to £1 billion in overpayments.
Up to November 2021, HMRC issued over 74,000 letters asking claimants to check their claims and self-correct if they had got it wrong, and opened over 26,000 one-to-one checks where there was a risk that the grant had been overclaimed. HMRC’s 2020-21 compliance results for the Covid-19 schemes amounted to over £830 million, achieved by preventing losses by pre-payment activity and recovering overclaimed grants.
Taskforce performance for the year 2021-22 will be published in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22.
Throughout the pandemic, the Government’s number one priority has been to protect jobs and livelihoods whilst also supporting businesses and public services across the UK.
The overwhelming majority of people that claimed Covid-19 support did so legitimately. HMRC is also aware that mistakes can happen, which is why HMRC is supporting people who made a mistake to correct it. Those who keep money claimed from any of the Covid-19 support schemes despite knowing they were not entitled to it face having to repay up to double the amount they received, plus interest, and potentially criminal prosecution in the most serious of cases.
As published in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21, over 1,300 Full Time Equivalent staff were deployed onto the COVID schemes during 2020-21. The full report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021
The Government has since invested over £100 million in a Taxpayer Protection Taskforce of over 1,200 Full Time Equivalent of HMRC staff to combat fraud and error within the HMRC Covid-19 schemes, one of the largest and quickest responses to a fraud risk by HMRC.
The taskforce is funded for two years up to the year 2022-23 and will enable HMRC to increase their one-to-one checks to 30,000. The Taskforce is expected to recover between £800 million to £1 billion in overpayments.
Up to November 2021, HMRC issued over 74,000 letters asking claimants to check their claims and self-correct if they had got it wrong, and opened over 26,000 one-to-one checks where there was a risk that the grant had been overclaimed. HMRC’s 2020-21 compliance results for the Covid-19 schemes amounted to over £830 million, achieved by preventing losses by pre-payment activity and recovering overclaimed grants.
Taskforce performance for the year 2021-22 will be published in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22.
HM Treasury is a policy-making department and does not undertake investigations, except for the work of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).
As the competent authority for the implementation of financial sanctions in the UK, OFSI supports efforts to tackle economic crime by ensuring that financial sanctions are properly understood and enforced.
OFSI investigates all reported suspected breaches of financial sanctions. Its Annual Review publications are available on GOV.UK and provide further information about OFSI’s work.
Data on detected and prevented fraud and error, and trends in recoveries in the public sector are published annually by the Cabinet Office Government Counter Fraud Function (GCFF). The Cross-Government Fraud Landscape Bulletin is available on GOV.UK.
The outcomes of investigations into fraud, scams and economic crime are not centrally collated. Investigations are conducted by the appropriate Department with responsibility for policy delivery.
Investigations and enforcement activities are also undertaken by regulatory or enforcement agencies, such as the Financial Conduct Authority and National Crime Agency.
HM Treasury takes a flexible and dynamic approach to resourcing to meet Government priorities. We have teams delivering priority work including economic crime reform. However, we do not routinely record the number of full time equivalent civil servants who work on individual policy initiatives.
Most of the responsibility for tackling fraud and economic crime is led by the Departments tasked with delivering Government policy. Investigations and enforcement activities are also undertaken by regulatory or enforcement agencies, including the Financial Conduct Authority and National Crime Agency respectively. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, ensures financial sanctions are properly understood and enforced and investigates all reported suspected breaches.
HM Treasury takes a flexible and dynamic approach to resourcing to meet Government priorities. We have teams delivering priority work including economic crime reform. However, we do not routinely record the number of full time equivalent civil servants who work on individual policy initiatives.
Most of the responsibility for tackling fraud and economic crime is led by the Departments tasked with delivering Government policy. Investigations and enforcement activities are also undertaken by regulatory or enforcement agencies, including the Financial Conduct Authority and National Crime Agency respectively. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, ensures financial sanctions are properly understood and enforced and investigates all reported suspected breaches.
The remedy proposed in the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill is designed to address the discrimination identified by the McCloud and Sargeant judgments. For the main unfunded public service pension schemes, in effect, remedy offers members in scope a choice between legacy or reformed scheme benefits for the remedy period, which runs from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022. Members in scope of remedy are those with service on or before 31 March 2012 and on or after 1 April 2015.
The cost of remedy is the cost of additional pension benefits accrued due to remedy. Those benefits will typically be paid out across the retirement of eligible members. The estimated £17 billion cost of remedy will, therefore, be paid out over many decades as the pensions of those in scope come into payment.
In November 2020, the Chancellor announced that the UK would implement a Green Taxonomy to create a common understanding of which economic activities are environmentally sustainable, improving understanding of the impact of firms’ activities and investments on the environment.
The Government is required to make Technical Screening Criteria (TSC) via secondary legislation for climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation no later than 1 January 2023. These TSC will be subject to appropriate, open consultation prior to making.
Ministers routinely meet with a range of private sector stakeholders. Transparency releases are published on a quarterly basis and are currently publicly available for Ministerial meetings up to and including September 2020, which is in line with normal reporting timelines on disclosures.
Ministers routinely meet with a range of private sector stakeholders. Transparency releases are published on a quarterly basis and are currently publicly available for Ministerial meetings up to and including September 2020, which is in line with normal reporting timelines on disclosures.
The Government’s EU exit deal allows the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to change the legal contactless limits, which were previously set by the European Commission. On 3 March, the FCA increased the legal single contactless payment limit from £45 to £100.
The FCA undertook a public consultation ahead of taking its decision and has carefully considered the potential impacts on fraud from these changes. When the contactless payment limits were last raised in Spring 2020 from £30 to £45 there was no significant recorded increase in fraud levels.
The Government’s EU exit deal allows the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to change the legal contactless limits, which were previously set by the European Commission. On 3 March, the FCA increased the legal single contactless payment limit from £45 to £100.
The FCA undertook a public consultation ahead of taking its decision and has carefully considered the potential impacts on fraud from these changes. When the contactless payment limits were last raised in Spring 2020 from £30 to £45 there was no significant recorded increase in fraud levels.
In April 2016, the Government introduced a higher minimum wage called the National Living Wage, which was increased to £9.50 per hour for those aged 23 and over, on 1st April 2022. All employers in the UK are required to comply with National Minimum Wage legislation and all Home Office employees are paid at or above this rate.
The Living Wage Foundation (LWF) is an initiative by Citizens UK which advocates employers paying an alternative hourly rate known as the Living Wage or London Living Wage. which they believe represents a minimum income standard, reflecting the basic cost of living in the UK. The current Living Wage across the UK is £9.90 and London Living Wage is £11.05.
There are 495 staff, working nationally that are paid less than the LWF Living Wage. All staff based within London are paid above the LWF London Living Wage. This figure does not take into account the pay award for 2022 – 2023, where negotiations with the trades unions are currently taking place to determine the uplift to the AA grade (the grade affected by changes to either the Government NLW or LWFs London/living wage).
When the pay award is implemented, it will be backdated to July, the start of the pay award year.
Home Office does not require its contractors or suppliers (covering Agency workers) to comply with the London Living Wage although they must comply with pay legislation.
Of the agencies and public bodies sponsored by the Home Office, they currently have 22 direct employees outside Greater London who are paid less than National Living Wage.
The NCA do not comment on the number of current investigations by the Agency.
The NCA do not comment on the number of current investigations by the Agency.
Suspicious Activity Reports are submitted by reporters to the UK Financial Intelligence Unit within the National Crime Agency.
In the last 5 years, the following volumes of Suspicious Activity Reports have been received by the UK Financial Intelligence Unit. The UK Financial Intelligence Unit does not hold data on whether an institution is based in the UK.
| April 2019 to March 2020 | April 2018-March 2019 | April 2017-March 2018 | October 2015 to September 2016 | Oct 2014 to Sept 2015 |
Credit institution – banks | 432,316 | 383,733 | 371,522 | 348,688 | 318,445 |
Credit institution – building societies | 30,579 | 21,714 | 19,640 | 15,078 | 15,806 |
Credit institution – others | 8,080 | 10,203 | 13,678 | 13,222 | 11,828 |
Financial institution – MSBs | 17,701 | 18,940 | 21,198 | 10,091 | 11,120 |
Financial institution – others | 58,930 | 24,911 | 21,446 | 14,496 | 6,835 |
The Home Office or National Crime Agency does not hold information relating to Suspicious Activity Reports submitted to other countries.
Suspicious Activity Report submission volumes can be found in the SARs Annual Reports which are published by the National Crime Agency, which includes breakdowns by sector. The 2019-2020 report can be found here:
https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications/480-sars-annual-report-2020/file
The Home Office provides annualised grant funding of £10.5 million to Action Fraud and National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) for running the service. In addition to this they receive funding from other sources.
Further details on funding of Action Fraud and funding providers are currently available on the City of London Police website: https://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/police-forces/city-of-london-police/areas/city-of-london/about-us/about-us/funding/.
There are no Government estimates of the annual cost of fraud specifically for UK consumers. The Home Office has estimated that the total economic and social cost of fraud to individuals in England and Wales in 2015/2016 was £4.7bn [1].
Data on incidents of fraud is available from two key sources, the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and Action Fraud supply data to the Home Office on the number of recorded fraud and computer misuse offences that have been reported to and recorded by them.
The CSEW report that in the year ending March 2020, there were an estimated 914,000 incidents of consumer and retail fraud.
The information requested about contractors and agency workers is not held. It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Members Question about direct employees. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of The House.
Spend on campaigns and their providers is published regularly on the Gov.uk.
Spend on campaigns and their providers is published regularly on the Gov.uk.
Spend on campaigns and their providers is published regularly on the Gov.uk.
Spend on campaigns and their providers is published regularly on the Gov.uk.
Spend on campaigns and their providers is published regularly on the Gov.uk.
I can confirm that the Ministry of Justice (including HMCTS and agencies) does not have any direct employees that receive a wage equivalent to below the 2021/22 Living Wage Foundation UK Real Living Wage (£9.90 per hour) or London Living Wage (£11.05 per hour).
Within HM Prisons & Probation Service, as at March 2022, there were 1,288 directly employed staff below the UK Real Living Wage (£9.90 per hour) outside of London and 22 staff below the London Living Wage (£11.05 per hour) in London.
This Government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2022, the National Living Wage increased to £9.50 per hour. By 2024, the Government has committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings. The National Living Wage is the statutory minimum for ages 23 and above, whereas both the UK and London Real Living Wages are voluntary. All employees across the MoJ and HMPPS are paid at, or above, the statutory minimum rates for their respective age groups.
As pay and conditions are set between employee and employer, neither the MoJ or HMPPS hold records on agencies and contractors. The Crown Commercial Service’s frameworks set a minimum requirement of the current legislative amounts allowed by employers to pay, which all suppliers must adhere to when negotiating contracts with Government departments.
The Ministry of Justice has published information on prosecutions for fraud offences in England and Wales up to December 2019, available in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ data tool, which can be found here:
In the data tool linked above, use the ‘Offence group’ filter to select ’10: Fraud offences’ and the number of defendants prosecuted for this offence group will populate in row 23 of the pivot table.
The Northern Ireland Office can confirm no employees either directly or indirectly employed by the department are paid below the UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London or within London.