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1466524

registered interest
date	26/05/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Fraud: Debts
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if will he publish the internal HMRC guidelines on dealing with liabilities accrued by victims of fraud.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	9998
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/06/2022 answer text <p>The relevant guidance is already publicly available in HMRC’s Admin Law manual. HMRC responds to liabilities accrued by the victims of fraud based on the individual circumstances of each case. HMRC Commissioners’ discretionary powers are set out in the Admin Law manual.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 06/06/2022 16:28:18 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1457812

registered interest
date	14/04/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Skrill: Russia
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with representatives of Skrill of the potential merits of blocking people in Russia from using that financial service.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	154361
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/04/2022 answer text <p>HM Treasury and the UK regulatory authorities have proactively engaged with the financial services sector, including representatives of cryptoasset businesses, electronic money institutions and payment services providers, to ensure that the implications of the Russia sanctions are understood.</p><p> </p><p>Under the UK’s Money Laundering Regulations, cryptoasset businesses, electronic money institutions and payment service providers, such as Skrill, are expected to apply risk-sensitive customer due diligence measures in order to identify and verify the customer and understand the purpose behind their transactions, when considering the services they provide to current or potential customers.</p><p> </p><p>This includes checking that the customer is not subject to sanctions, and does not intend to use the services for criminal purposes, including assisting others in the evasion of sanctions. Risk assessments by firms must also include consideration of geographical risk factors, including the country where the customer is resident.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 21/04/2022 10:57:08 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1404867

registered interest
date	20/01/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Bus Services: North of England
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to extend the Bus Recovery Grant beyond March 2022 to help support the recovery of bus transport in the North of England.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	108608
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/01/2022 answer text <p>The Government recognises the vital importance of bus services to local economies and communities across the country.</p><p> </p><p>We have provided over £1.5bn to maintain essential local bus services outside London since March 2020, ensuring that people can continue to get to work, school, and shops safely and easily.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Chancellor also confirmed a further £1.2bn to deliver London-style services, fares and infrastructure improvements. This will help to deliver the PM’s ‘Bus Back Better’ strategy for transforming bus services across England, and means that dedicated spending on buses will more than double over this Parliament taking into account wider investment in thousands of new zero emission buses.</p> answering member constituency Faversham and Mid Kent answering member printed Helen Whately question first answered 25/01/2022 07:58:41 answering member 4527 label Biography information for Helen Whately
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1399327

registered interest
date	04/01/2022
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Bounce Back Loan Scheme and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to recover the (a) incorrectly and (b) fraudulently claimed money through the (i) Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and (ii) Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	97050
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/01/2022 answer text <p>HMRC’s approach to recovering incorrectly claimed money through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is to ensure that no one who has tried to do the right thing, but made an honest mistake, has any need to be concerned as long as they work with HMRC to put it right. Claimants were able to amend an incorrect claim without incurring a penalty within 90 days of receiving the grant, or their circumstances changing. HMRC also set up an online system to help people easily correct any mistakes. As of November 2021, HMRC have had circa £408 million returned to them by claimants who, unprompted, found an error in their claim, and over £719 million was returned to them by claimants who were entitled to the grant but decided, for a range of reasons, to repay it.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC carefully examines CJRS claims for indications that they may be incorrect. This allows them to make the best possible use of their investigators and spare the vast majority, who are doing the right thing, from hearing from them. Since the launch of the CJRS, HMRC detected a range of attempted frauds, from individual opportunistic frauds, such as genuine employers manipulating CJRS claims, to organised attacks by criminal groups. HMRC commenced preventive compliance activity as soon as the scheme went live with a strong focus on stopping fraudulent payments to organised criminal groups. HMRC commenced post-payment compliance once they had the powers to do so in July 2020. They have established the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce (TPT) to provide a large-scale, dedicated capability to address fraud and error which, as of 30 November 2021, has opened over 27,000 compliance interventions. The TPT, where proportionate and necessary, refer more complex cases and those involving organised criminal groups for specialist investigation by appropriate expert teams within HMRC, including the Fraud Investigation Service (FIS). As of 30 November 2021, FIS has 21 ongoing criminal investigations and 7 live civil investigations into the most serious attempted frauds against the CJRS.</p><p> </p><p>The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) administers the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBL). HMRC have supported BEIS in identifying and addressing fraudulent activity by exchanging data about organisations who have applied for and taken out loans under this scheme. HMRC have also used BBL data to identify broader compliance risks in the tax system.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 10/01/2022 15:09:03 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1383139

registered interest
date	29/11/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Companies: Environment Protection
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Net Zero Strategy published in October 2021, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of asking companies to report on steps they have taken to help ensure a just transition to a green economy in their transition plans.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	83456
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/12/2021 answer text <p>At COP26 Finance Day the Chancellor announced that the UK will move towards making transition plans mandatory. Initially, asset managers, regulated asset owners and listed companies will need to publish a transition plan or provide an explanation if they have not done so.</p><p> </p><p>Recognising that there is not yet an agreed standard for transition plans, the Chancellor also announced that the Government will set up a Transition Plan Taskforce. This will bring together the best of British industry and academia with regulators and the third sector to develop recommendations on transition plan disclosures in the UK. It will consider relevant Government policy in its work, such as the Net Zero Strategy, and report initially by the end of 2022.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 02/12/2021 14:10:57 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1360165

registered interest
date	15/10/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Research: Tax Allowances
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that the system of research and development tax reliefs provides support for research that uses and develops new approach methodologies including the use of (a) human cells and tissues, (b) artificial intelligence and (c) organ-on-a-chip technology.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	57310
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/10/2021 answer text <p>Research and Development (R&amp;D) tax reliefs support companies carrying out projects which seek to make advances in science or technology through the resolution of scientific or technological uncertainty.</p><p> </p><p>At Spring Budget 2021, the Government launched a wide-ranging review of R&amp;D tax reliefs, which was supported by a consultation with stakeholders. The consultation also explored definitions, eligibility, and scope of the reliefs, to ensure they are up-to-date, competitive, and that they reflect how R&amp;D activity is conducted now. The consultation ran from 3 March to 2 June 2021. The Government will respond in due course.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 20/10/2021 13:39:37 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1352630

registered interest
date	03/09/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Help to Buy Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to review the help-to-buy ISA threshold in light of rising house prices.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	42089
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2021 answer text <p>The Help to Buy: ISA scheme aims to help those struggling to save enough to get onto the housing ladder. The property price cap allows the Government to target support at the first-time buyers who need it the most. The scheme includes a higher property value cap of £450,000 for properties in London compared to £250,000 anywhere else in the UK.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics show that since the scheme was launched in 2015 410,075 property completions, including more than 26,000 completions in London, have been supported through the scheme with a mean property value of £175,010 compared to an average first-time buyer house price of £222,712. The Government keeps all aspects of savings policy under review.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 08/09/2021 16:00:25 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1299293

registered interest
date	03/03/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Small Businesses: Insurance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to prevent insurance companies from implementing high increases to annual indemnity insurance costs during the covid-19 outbreak for small companies who have not had to make a claim.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	162687
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2021 answer text <p>Insurers make decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. The respective capabilities of insurers to assess risk is a key element on which they compete. This competition is important and leads to better products and lower prices for consumers.</p><p> </p><p>Insurers must treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules. In addition, the FCA has said that, in light of COVID-19, insurers must consider very carefully the needs of their customers and show flexibility in their treatment of them.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is working closely with the FCA to ensure that the rules are being upheld during this crisis and fully supports the regulator in its role.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 08/03/2021 12:44:18 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1287677

registered interest
date	19/02/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	English Language: Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Business Rates Relief are planned to be extended to English language teaching centres.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	155363
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2021 answer text <p>This year, due to the direct adverse effects of COVID-19, the Government has provided an unprecedented business rates holiday for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties worth over £10 billion. The Government has also frozen the business rates multiplier for all businesses for 2021-22.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has provided various schemes to support firms, including English language teaching centres, including Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans, Bounce Back Loans, grants and VAT deferrals.</p><p> </p><p>The Budget will set out the next phase of the Government’s plans to tackle the virus, protect jobs and support business.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 24/02/2021 15:41:24 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1286410

registered interest
date	11/02/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Gaming: VAT
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will include adult gaming centres in the VAT reductions available to the hospitality industry.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	153360
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2021 answer text <p>The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July to support the cash flow and viability of over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors, and will run until 31 March 2021.</p><p> </p><p>This policy will cost over £2 billion and it is necessary for a boundary for eligibility to be drawn. The Government keeps all taxes under review, and any future decisions on tax policy will be made at Budget.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has announced a significant support package to help businesses from a whole range of sectors through the winter months, which includes an extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, an extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant, and an extension of the application window for the Government-backed loan schemes.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman grouped question UIN 153375 question first answered 22/02/2021 11:16:15 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel