Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of installing ticket barriers at Hayes station in Kent to help tackle (a) fare evasion and (b) anti-social behaviour.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Since coming into public ownership in 2021, Southeastern Trains have invested significantly in actions to tackle fare evasion and anti-social behaviour, including extra security trained staff at key locations, intelligence led revenue protection exercises, increased onboard ticket checks and increased gate line hours. Southeastern now have one of the lowest levels of ticketless travel across the country.

Installing a new gate line at an ungated station is expensive and therefore train operators prioritise stations that have higher levels of fare evasion and anti-social behaviour. Currently Southeastern Trains are focussing on projects to install gates at Ramsgate and Margate which will be delivered over the next 12-18 months. Southeastern Trains have conducted a high-level survey at Hayes which concluded that the station is suitable for the installation of ticket barriers, however further work is required over the coming months to develop the business case for future gating schemes.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what HMRC's target timeline for paying out Construction Industry Scheme tax rebates to small businesses is; and what proportion of rebates are paid within that time.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC recognise that repayments are important for customers. They prioritise them and work hard to ensure they are processed as quickly and securely as possible.

Individuals can check when they are likely to receive a response by using HMRC’s ‘Where’s my reply’ tool which is available here:

www.gov.uk/guidance/check-when-you-can-expect-a-reply-from-hmrc

In relation to CIS repayments, HMRC are recruiting and training more colleagues to improve the service and issue CIS repayments more quickly. In cases of hardship, taxpayers can contact HMRC to look at their case and, where possible, make the repayment sooner.

HMRC’s service standard is to respond to 80% of CIS repayment claims for limited companies within 15 working days. The department has a plan in place to clear existing backlogs and return to meeting the service level agreement by January 2026.

Found: Caliskan (Labour; Barking) Mr Luke Charters (Labour; York Outer) Anna Dixon (Labour; Shipley) Peter Fortune