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2 Feb 2010 : Column 216Wcontinued
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many P14 returns had to be processed manually in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008 and (d) 2009; [312152]
(2) what criteria are used to define a pay-as-you-earn case as a complicated case which requires manual processing; [312322]
(3) on how many databases the HM Revenue and Customs pay-as-you-earn computer systems operate by the end of the pay as you earn modernisation process. [312334]
Mr. Timms: The majority of employers now provide PAYE end-of-year information electronically, which does not require manual processing, and from 2009-10, with a few exceptions, all employers will have to do so.
Manual processing is required where an employer annual return is filed on paper. Whether an employer PAYE case is 'complicated' is not a factor in whether the employer annual return requires manual processing. The information requested is provided in the following table.
Employer annual returns received and processed manually | |
In July 2009 HM Revenue and Customs introduced one single, national computer system (the National Insurance and PAYE Service) to replace the Computerisation of PAYE (COP) computer system that had handled PAYE for 20 years. The National Insurance and PAYE Service brings together all individuals' PAYE details onto one database, instead of the former 12 COP databases.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what plans there are to outsource welfare support for staff of HM Revenue and Customs; [314285]
(2) what assessment his Department has made of the value for money provided by the welfare support services operating within HM Revenue and Customs. [314286]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is committed to achieving significant reductions in its running costs year on year for the foreseeable future.
In relation to the Department's Business and People Support Service, which employs 37 staff to provide an in-house welfare service, HMRC has concluded that it requires a different type of service to be commissioned because:
current facilities do not provide the 24 hour/7 days a week service available commercially;
the external market is well-established, with cost-effective and high-quality provision available from a range of providers; and
there are both cost and service advantages in joining with DWP and other Government Departments and public sector organisations (around 35 in total) who use an outsourced provider.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is therefore proposing to outsource its welfare services and has joined the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and other departments in a tendering exercise.
Joining DWP in a contract involving up to three hundred thousand staff is likely to offer large economies of scale and substantial financial savings. In November 2009, DWP issued an invitation to tender, which closed on 15 January 2010. Evaluation of responses to the tender is underway including a full financial and value for money review of in-house and potential outsourced service options.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the loss of revenue to the Exchequer resulting from illicit alcohol sales in the last 12 months. [313127]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Ms Smith) on 1 December 2009, Official Report, column 599W.
David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of illegal trading in (i) cigarettes, (ii) spirits, (iii) diesel, (iv) petrol and (v) counterfeit goods in Northern Ireland in each of the last two years. [313679]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Details of convictions relating to cigarette and alcohol offences are published in the HM Revenue and Customs Departmental Autumn Performance Report for all of the United Kingdom. It is not possible to disaggregate these figures on a regional basis.
The number of prosecutions brought for oils offences in Northern Ireland is not reported.
Details of convictions relating to all types of oils offences for Northern Ireland are recorded and reported separately in the HMRC Departmental Autumn Performance Report.
Prosecution of persons detected importing counterfeit goods is the responsibility of the United Kingdom Border Agency.
Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate (a) the number and monetary value of cigarettes and (b) quantity of hand-rolled tobacco HM Revenue and Customs seized in each region in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08 and (iii) 2008-09. [313900]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Location-specific statistics are not published as this would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime. However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and UK Border Agency seizure statistics are available for England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
the quantities seized;
the monetary value of the seizures; and
the revenue value of the seizures.
1. HMRC cigarette seizures, 2006-07 to 2008-09 | ||||
Country | Data | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
2. HMRC hand-rolling tobacco seizures, 2006-07 to 2008-09 | ||||
Country | Data | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
All of these statistics should also be considered in the context of the overall UK illicit market share for cigarettes, which has been cut from over 20 per cent. in the early part of this decade, to 10 per cent. according to the latest published estimates for 2007-08.
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