§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action the Government are taking to tackle fuel fraud; and how much has been allocated to this task in the last three years. [62944]
§ John HealeyI have been asked to reply.
Following consultation in the November 2001 pre-Budget report, the Chancellor announced in the Budget a comprehensive strategy to tackle the rising problem of oils fraud including the release of additional resources in 2002–03 to enable the effective enforcement of these new controls, involving the deployment of more staff and investment in new technology. Details of this are contained in the Budget 2002 Press Notice, HMG 2, published on 17 April.
Customs' estimate of officers wholly dedicated to the oils sector over the last three complete financial years is:
Dedicated oils officers 1999–2000 172 2000–01 253 2001–02 285 These officers assure and assist compliant traders and also tackle those who seek to evade revenue through fraudulent activities.
In addition, multi-functional Customs officers undertake a range of activities in their areas of responsibility including work in the oils sector. It is not possible to separate the time spent by these officers on oils work alone.