Pat McFadden

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.

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.

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:

(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.

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.

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.

The information requested is not centrally collected.

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:

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:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel

As the Chancellor laid out in his speech at Mansion House on Tuesday 19^th 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.

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 1^st 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.

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/.

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:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938568/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2019.xlsx

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.