Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Newby on 15 July (HL Deb, col 501), what specific legislative change was undertaken specifically to deal with the absence of custodial sentences for illegal production or smuggling of diesel in Northern Ireland; and on what date those legislative changes became effective.

Legislative change enacted in, The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Review of Sentencing) Order (Northern Ireland) 2013 (SR 249/2013) allows the appeal of unduly lenient sentences for fuel fraud to the Court of Appeal. It came into force on 9 December 2013.

All 22 convictions related to offences prosecuted under Section 170(2)(a) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 for fraudulent evasion of duty. Further details area as follows:

· 15 of the cases were prosecuted for two offences under this Act

· 12 of these convictions resulted in suspended sentences totalling 104 months, with each being suspended for a period of time between 12 and 36 months

· One case resulted in the defendant being bound over

· In nine cases fines of up to £4,000 were imposed - totalling £11,700; and in two of these the defendant was given a period of up to 26 weeks to pay the fine or an additional custodial sentence would be imposed

· One conviction was converted into a time to pay agreement due to the ill health of the defendant

· One Confiscation Order was made for £98,000

· One Compensation Order was made for £500

It would not be prudent to provide the further detailed information requested as they could lead to identification of the individuals concerned and jeopardise the safety of the defendants and their immediate families.

No assessment has been made of how much of the diesel bought in the Republic of Ireland and brought into Northern Ireland is illegally produced or smuggled. However, tax gap figures estimate the market share for all illicit diesel in Northern Ireland at 12-13% in 2011-12 and negligible for petrol.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measuring-tax-gaps-tables

HMRC fights fraud on a wide range of fronts, from special units performing thousands of roadside checks to raiding laundering plants. The UK has recently announced, jointly with Ireland, an improved new marker for rebated fuel, which will make it much harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.