Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many suspected fraud cases have been investigated by the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce; how many of those cases (a) have since been dropped or (b) will not result in prosecution; and what the value is of loans unpaid which will not be recovered in relation to the cases which have been dropped.
Answered by Richard Fuller - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At the Spring Budget 202,1 the Government announced a £100 million investment to form the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. This enabled HMRC to significantly extend work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID-19 support schemes that HMRC administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out). These payments are grants rather than loans. HMRC does not administer or undertake compliance of other COVID-19 financial support packages, such as Bounce Back Loans.
The £100 million funding covers backfilling the staff used to resource the taskforce.
In 2021-22 the taskforce had £41million allocated to the staffing budget and is forecasting £59 million in staffing for 2022-23.
During 2021-22, the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce consisted of 1,147 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) compliance officers, reassigned from other teams across HMRC. As of 31 July 2022, there are 1,203 FTE in the taskforce.
HMRC designed the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out schemes to prevent fraud, both in the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself. HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they were paid, blocking those that were highly indicative of criminal activity.
The Government and HMRC are taking tough action to tackle fraudulent behaviour. 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 face criminal prosecution.
The Taxpayer Protection Taskforce undertakes one-to-one investigations where there is a suspected overpayment of an HMRC administered COVID-19 grant. These overpayments may be due to error or fraud, therefore the total number of investigations opened and concluded does not distinguish between error and fraud.
As of 31 July 2022, the total number of investigations opened since the start of the schemes is over 45,000, of which c.31,000 have been concluded. The taskforce opened over 32,000 one to one investigations in addition to the c.13,000 one to one investigations opened prior to the taskforce being formed. These investigations are carried out using HMRC’s civil powers and do not involve prosecution. By 31 March 2022, HMRC have recovered around £762 million of overclaimed grants. This is in addition to £425 million prevented from being paid out incorrectly and £970 million returned by claimants because they did not need the grant or they identified they had overclaimed without HMRC taking action.
In addition, HMRC carries out criminal investigations in the most serious cases of fraud. As of 31 July 2022, there has been 1 successful prosecution for fraud on the HMRC administered COVID-19 support schemes. HMRC also has 30 active criminal investigations that involve suspected COVID-19 scheme fraud and the final decision on whether to prosecute in these cases will be made by independent prosecution partners.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of loans is that have been recovered by the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce through successful prosecutions in (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23.
Answered by Richard Fuller - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At the Spring Budget 202,1 the Government announced a £100 million investment to form the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. This enabled HMRC to significantly extend work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID-19 support schemes that HMRC administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out). These payments are grants rather than loans. HMRC does not administer or undertake compliance of other COVID-19 financial support packages, such as Bounce Back Loans.
The £100 million funding covers backfilling the staff used to resource the taskforce.
In 2021-22 the taskforce had £41million allocated to the staffing budget and is forecasting £59 million in staffing for 2022-23.
During 2021-22, the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce consisted of 1,147 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) compliance officers, reassigned from other teams across HMRC. As of 31 July 2022, there are 1,203 FTE in the taskforce.
HMRC designed the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out schemes to prevent fraud, both in the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself. HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they were paid, blocking those that were highly indicative of criminal activity.
The Government and HMRC are taking tough action to tackle fraudulent behaviour. 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 face criminal prosecution.
The Taxpayer Protection Taskforce undertakes one-to-one investigations where there is a suspected overpayment of an HMRC administered COVID-19 grant. These overpayments may be due to error or fraud, therefore the total number of investigations opened and concluded does not distinguish between error and fraud.
As of 31 July 2022, the total number of investigations opened since the start of the schemes is over 45,000, of which c.31,000 have been concluded. The taskforce opened over 32,000 one to one investigations in addition to the c.13,000 one to one investigations opened prior to the taskforce being formed. These investigations are carried out using HMRC’s civil powers and do not involve prosecution. By 31 March 2022, HMRC have recovered around £762 million of overclaimed grants. This is in addition to £425 million prevented from being paid out incorrectly and £970 million returned by claimants because they did not need the grant or they identified they had overclaimed without HMRC taking action.
In addition, HMRC carries out criminal investigations in the most serious cases of fraud. As of 31 July 2022, there has been 1 successful prosecution for fraud on the HMRC administered COVID-19 support schemes. HMRC also has 30 active criminal investigations that involve suspected COVID-19 scheme fraud and the final decision on whether to prosecute in these cases will be made by independent prosecution partners.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the overall budget for the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce was in financial year 2021-22 for (a) staffing, (b) operations and (c) legal and court proceedings; and what the budget projections are for financial year 2022-23 for each of those categories.
Answered by Richard Fuller - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At the Spring Budget 202,1 the Government announced a £100 million investment to form the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. This enabled HMRC to significantly extend work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID-19 support schemes that HMRC administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out). These payments are grants rather than loans. HMRC does not administer or undertake compliance of other COVID-19 financial support packages, such as Bounce Back Loans.
The £100 million funding covers backfilling the staff used to resource the taskforce.
In 2021-22 the taskforce had £41million allocated to the staffing budget and is forecasting £59 million in staffing for 2022-23.
During 2021-22, the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce consisted of 1,147 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) compliance officers, reassigned from other teams across HMRC. As of 31 July 2022, there are 1,203 FTE in the taskforce.
HMRC designed the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out schemes to prevent fraud, both in the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself. HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they were paid, blocking those that were highly indicative of criminal activity.
The Government and HMRC are taking tough action to tackle fraudulent behaviour. 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 face criminal prosecution.
The Taxpayer Protection Taskforce undertakes one-to-one investigations where there is a suspected overpayment of an HMRC administered COVID-19 grant. These overpayments may be due to error or fraud, therefore the total number of investigations opened and concluded does not distinguish between error and fraud.
As of 31 July 2022, the total number of investigations opened since the start of the schemes is over 45,000, of which c.31,000 have been concluded. The taskforce opened over 32,000 one to one investigations in addition to the c.13,000 one to one investigations opened prior to the taskforce being formed. These investigations are carried out using HMRC’s civil powers and do not involve prosecution. By 31 March 2022, HMRC have recovered around £762 million of overclaimed grants. This is in addition to £425 million prevented from being paid out incorrectly and £970 million returned by claimants because they did not need the grant or they identified they had overclaimed without HMRC taking action.
In addition, HMRC carries out criminal investigations in the most serious cases of fraud. As of 31 July 2022, there has been 1 successful prosecution for fraud on the HMRC administered COVID-19 support schemes. HMRC also has 30 active criminal investigations that involve suspected COVID-19 scheme fraud and the final decision on whether to prosecute in these cases will be made by independent prosecution partners.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions have resulted from the investigations of the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce as of 1 September 2022; and how many investigations have been concluded and are waiting to be progressed by the courts.
Answered by Richard Fuller - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At the Spring Budget 202,1 the Government announced a £100 million investment to form the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. This enabled HMRC to significantly extend work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID-19 support schemes that HMRC administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out). These payments are grants rather than loans. HMRC does not administer or undertake compliance of other COVID-19 financial support packages, such as Bounce Back Loans.
The £100 million funding covers backfilling the staff used to resource the taskforce.
In 2021-22 the taskforce had £41million allocated to the staffing budget and is forecasting £59 million in staffing for 2022-23.
During 2021-22, the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce consisted of 1,147 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) compliance officers, reassigned from other teams across HMRC. As of 31 July 2022, there are 1,203 FTE in the taskforce.
HMRC designed the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out schemes to prevent fraud, both in the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself. HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they were paid, blocking those that were highly indicative of criminal activity.
The Government and HMRC are taking tough action to tackle fraudulent behaviour. 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 face criminal prosecution.
The Taxpayer Protection Taskforce undertakes one-to-one investigations where there is a suspected overpayment of an HMRC administered COVID-19 grant. These overpayments may be due to error or fraud, therefore the total number of investigations opened and concluded does not distinguish between error and fraud.
As of 31 July 2022, the total number of investigations opened since the start of the schemes is over 45,000, of which c.31,000 have been concluded. The taskforce opened over 32,000 one to one investigations in addition to the c.13,000 one to one investigations opened prior to the taskforce being formed. These investigations are carried out using HMRC’s civil powers and do not involve prosecution. By 31 March 2022, HMRC have recovered around £762 million of overclaimed grants. This is in addition to £425 million prevented from being paid out incorrectly and £970 million returned by claimants because they did not need the grant or they identified they had overclaimed without HMRC taking action.
In addition, HMRC carries out criminal investigations in the most serious cases of fraud. As of 31 July 2022, there has been 1 successful prosecution for fraud on the HMRC administered COVID-19 support schemes. HMRC also has 30 active criminal investigations that involve suspected COVID-19 scheme fraud and the final decision on whether to prosecute in these cases will be made by independent prosecution partners.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full time equivalent officials were deployed to the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce in the financial year 2021-22; and what the staff complement is for that taskforce as at 1 September 2022.
Answered by Richard Fuller - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At the Spring Budget 202,1 the Government announced a £100 million investment to form the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. This enabled HMRC to significantly extend work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID-19 support schemes that HMRC administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out). These payments are grants rather than loans. HMRC does not administer or undertake compliance of other COVID-19 financial support packages, such as Bounce Back Loans.
The £100 million funding covers backfilling the staff used to resource the taskforce.
In 2021-22 the taskforce had £41million allocated to the staffing budget and is forecasting £59 million in staffing for 2022-23.
During 2021-22, the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce consisted of 1,147 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) compliance officers, reassigned from other teams across HMRC. As of 31 July 2022, there are 1,203 FTE in the taskforce.
HMRC designed the Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Eat Out to Help Out schemes to prevent fraud, both in the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself. HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they were paid, blocking those that were highly indicative of criminal activity.
The Government and HMRC are taking tough action to tackle fraudulent behaviour. 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 face criminal prosecution.
The Taxpayer Protection Taskforce undertakes one-to-one investigations where there is a suspected overpayment of an HMRC administered COVID-19 grant. These overpayments may be due to error or fraud, therefore the total number of investigations opened and concluded does not distinguish between error and fraud.
As of 31 July 2022, the total number of investigations opened since the start of the schemes is over 45,000, of which c.31,000 have been concluded. The taskforce opened over 32,000 one to one investigations in addition to the c.13,000 one to one investigations opened prior to the taskforce being formed. These investigations are carried out using HMRC’s civil powers and do not involve prosecution. By 31 March 2022, HMRC have recovered around £762 million of overclaimed grants. This is in addition to £425 million prevented from being paid out incorrectly and £970 million returned by claimants because they did not need the grant or they identified they had overclaimed without HMRC taking action.
In addition, HMRC carries out criminal investigations in the most serious cases of fraud. As of 31 July 2022, there has been 1 successful prosecution for fraud on the HMRC administered COVID-19 support schemes. HMRC also has 30 active criminal investigations that involve suspected COVID-19 scheme fraud and the final decision on whether to prosecute in these cases will be made by independent prosecution partners.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his Department's policies during the covid-19 outbreak on people who were ineligible to claim Government financial support in that period.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Throughout the pandemic, the Government sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. To do this, the Government has provided up to £400 billion of direct support for the economy.
The Government is evaluating the delivery and impact of these schemes to ensure we learn lessons for the future. For example, the Government has already published a plan to evaluate the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The Government is also carrying out an evaluation of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which will be published in due course.
The Government will continue to learn these lessons through formal evaluations and reports by independent bodies, such the National Audit Office, and through the work of the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they made an assessment in 2020 of whether limiting their support of UK airlines through access to furlough funding would have an impact on the airlines’ staff numbers and post-pandemic capacity.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The economic impact of the pandemic was widespread across large parts of the economy. It was right that the Government made support available for all businesses that needed it for the whole of the UK. To clarify, any entity with a UK payroll, including airlines, was able to apply for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
When designing and implementing the scheme, the Government carefully considered its impacts on individual sectors and on the economy as a whole, and adapted its approach in response to the changing health and economic context.
In addition to CJRS, the Government provided unprecedented support to the aviation and aerospace sectors throughout Covid-19, with over £12 billion made available through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, and grants for research and development.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding from the public purse Peel Holding has received for operating Doncaster Sheffield Airport in each year since 1999.
Answered by Robert Courts
Subsidies provided by Government over certain amounts are published online. In 2021 the Department for Transport provided £1,758,720 to Doncaster Sheffield Airport in grant payments as part of the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme. During the pandemic the government has also provided around £8bn in support through package of measures during the pandemic to support the air transport sector. This includes support through loan guarantees, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Doncaster Sheffield Airport may have drawn from that wider support.
During the UK’s membership of the European Union and the EU Exit Implementation Period, any subsidies exceeding an amount of approximately €500k made available to organisations were published on https://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/public/consultation/search.do?locale=en.
Following the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU, any subsidies exceeding an amount of approximately £368k are now published on https://www.gov.uk/guidance/view-subsidies-awarded-by-uk-government.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has taken steps to support the workforce at Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
Answered by Robert Courts
I recognise that Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s (DSA) review into the future of the airport will be concerning for passengers and people who work at the airport. The Department was notified on the 13 July along with other local stakeholders about the announcement. My officials are in contact with the airport to understand its plans and I am due to meet Peel Group later this week. It would be inappropriate to comment whilst the review is ongoing. However, we hope that the review will be able to ensure a future for aviation at DSA.
Since the start of the pandemic, we estimate that the air transport sector (airlines, airport and related services) has benefitted from around £8bn of government support. This includes support through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the Airport and Ground Operations Scheme (AGOSS) from which DSA was awarded £1,758,720 in grant payments.
Ministers and officials engage extensively with the Aviation industry on a regular basis. As the Aviation Minister, I visited Doncaster Sheffield Airport on 3 June meeting with the Chairman of Peel Airports and the leadership team of the airport. Officials from the Department continue to meet with representatives from DSA as part of routine engagement on a range of matters.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) financial and (b) other support his Department has provided to Doncaster Sheffield Airport and/or Peel Group in the last two years.
Answered by Robert Courts
I recognise that Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s (DSA) review into the future of the airport will be concerning for passengers and people who work at the airport. The Department was notified on the 13 July along with other local stakeholders about the announcement. My officials are in contact with the airport to understand its plans and I am due to meet Peel Group later this week. It would be inappropriate to comment whilst the review is ongoing. However, we hope that the review will be able to ensure a future for aviation at DSA.
Since the start of the pandemic, we estimate that the air transport sector (airlines, airport and related services) has benefitted from around £8bn of government support. This includes support through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the Airport and Ground Operations Scheme (AGOSS) from which DSA was awarded £1,758,720 in grant payments.
Ministers and officials engage extensively with the Aviation industry on a regular basis. As the Aviation Minister, I visited Doncaster Sheffield Airport on 3 June meeting with the Chairman of Peel Airports and the leadership team of the airport. Officials from the Department continue to meet with representatives from DSA as part of routine engagement on a range of matters.