People arriving by small boats across the Channel are subject to stringent checks on arrival in the UK and again as they are processed into the asylum system.

Immediately on arrival, initial identity checks are undertaken for all individuals over the age of five, based on the name given and fingerprints are checked against immigration and Police criminal databases.

Once triaged and moved to appropriate accommodation, arrivals will be subject to additional checks as part of the asylum intake process. This will include identity and biometric enrolment based on fingerprints taken, with details checked against law enforcement, immigration, Police and security databases. There may be some individual cases where these checks are not conducted. It is not possible to check these details against the EU systems to which the UK has access under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement because use of those systems is only permitted for law enforcement, not immigration purposes.

Intelligence sharing between the British Government and overseas partners is important to the security of our country. The Government's vision for a security partnership with the European Union is set out in the White Paper: "The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union" (July 2018). This includes a proposal for continued information and intelligence sharing, for example through the EU Intelligence and Situation Centre, European Union Satellite Centre and EU Military Staff. It is the longstanding policy of successive British Governments not to comment on the detail of intelligence matters.​

The latest published statistics show that in the last year for which figures are available (2016-17), there were approximately 2,309,000 VAT registered businesses. Of these, approximately 1,179,000 were registered above the VAT threshold, and approximately 1,130,000 were registered below the VAT threshold.

The Office of Tax Simplification noted in their review of VAT published last year that the current design of the VAT threshold may be dis-incentivising small businesses from growing. The Chancellor at Autumn Budget recognised these concerns about the cliff edge nature of the threshold, but also noted that the threshold has the benefit of keeping the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether, and was therefore not minded to reduce the threshold, but would consult on whether its design could better incentivise growth.

The Government therefore launched a call for evidence to explore how the threshold could better incentivise growth at Spring Statement. This call for evidence closed on 5 June, and the Government will respond later this year. In the meantime, the threshold will remain at £85,000 for two years from April 2018.

The European Commission publishes details of VAT registration thresholds in the Member States. Their latest edition (April 2018) can be found on their website.

The information requested is provided in the attached table.

It is not possible to provide data of an estimate of the cost to the National Health Service of treating non-European Union citizens during the year 2015-16 as patient nationality is not reported by NHS provider trusts.

An independent report by prederi, entitled Quantitative Assessment of Visitor and Migrant Use of the NHS in England: Exploring the Data was commissioned by the Department to better understand the impact of treating visitors and migrants and was published on 22 October 2013. A copy of this report is attached

The report estimated the gross value of NHS-funded healthcare provided to non-European Economic Area (EEA) visitors and temporary migrants was approximately £1.4 billion per year.

The Department has been collecting data on the amounts recovered from patients subject to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 that have been directly charged for their treatment. These relate to invoices raised in current and previous years.

Figures for financial year 2015-2016 are shown in the table below:

Source: NHS Trust and NHS Foundation Trust Annual Accounts 2015/16

We do not recover costs directly from patients covered by the terms of the reciprocal healthcare agreements that the United Kingdom has with certain non-EEA countries. The terms of the reciprocal healthcare agreements allow for each country to absorb the cost of providing immediately necessary and urgent care provided to visitors between those countries.

Under the terms of the Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004, other EEA member states and Switzerland reimburse the UK for healthcare treatment provided to the citizens for whom they are responsible. Reimbursement is contingent on the NHS frontline identifying patients for whom we can recover costs and reporting the necessary information.

All EEA countries, including the UK, have a legal obligation to pay agreed claims relating to healthcare treatment provided. Once both sides are satisfied that such claims are accurate, they are paid in full.

In October 2014, the Department introduced a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) incentive, meaning NHS provider trusts would be paid an additional 25% of all EHIC activity they correctly record. This has led to a significant improvement in collection of EHICs as shown in the table below:

Source: Department of Work and Pensions Overseas Healthcare Team.

The Department, on behalf of the United Kingdom Government, reimburses other European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Switzerland for the cost of providing treatment to people we are responsible for under European Union law, irrespective of nationality. In the same way, other EEA countries and Switzerland reimburse the UK for the cost of the National Health Service providing treatment to people they are responsible for under EU law, including UK nationals insured in another EEA country or Switzerland.

Figures for 2015-16 are provided in the attached table.

It is not possible to provide data on the amounts collected for treatment of directly chargeable foreign nationals and residents of countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) by the National Health Service prior to financial year 2013-14. Since then the Department has been collecting data from NHS trusts on the amount of cash payments received in-year relating to invoices raised in current and previous years.

Figures for financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15 are shown in the table below.

Source:

NHS Trust data – NHS Trust Development Authority
NHS Foundation Trust Data – Monitor

Since 6 April 2015 , temporary , non-EEA migrants coming to the United Kingdom for more than 6 months, or who apply to extend their stay in the UK, are required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) (unless an exemption applies) . In cash terms between 6 April 2015 and 14 March 2016, the Home Office collected IHS income, net of refunds and transferred £117.8 million to the Department for spending on the NHS.

EEA countries and Switzerland reimburse the UK for the cost of the NHS providing treatment to people they are responsible for under EU law, including UK nationals insured in another EEA country or Switzerland. This information is available for the last three financial years in the attached table.

The Department on behalf of the UK Government reimburses other EEA countries and Switzerland for the cost of providing treatment to people we are responsible for under European Union law, irrespective of nationality. This information is available for the last three financial years in the attached table.

General practitioners (GPs) have discretion to register anyone as an NHS patient, including a person not ordinarily resident in the UK, for primary medical care free at the point of delivery. Being registered with a GP does not in itself mean that the person is entitled to free NHS hospital treatment. Practices are strongly encouraged to provide NHS providers with any relevant information when they refer a patient they believe may be chargeable for secondary care.

The Dublin Regulation is an important tool for maintaining the distinction between international protection and economic or other migration, reflecting the accepted principle of international law that those seeking international protection should seek asylum in the first safe country they reach.

If we have evidence that an asylum seeker is the responsibility of another European country we can, and will, seek to return them there under the Dublin Regulation. Similarly, if we have evidence that the person claiming asylum in the UK has already been granted international protection by another European country we will also seek to remove them to the country that granted protection. Over 12,000 migrants have been returned from the UK to another EU country since 2003.

The European Commission publishes details of VAT registration thresholds in the member states. Their latest edition (March 2012) can be found at:

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/taxation/vat/traders/vat_community/vat_in_ec_annexi.pdf.

No proposal has been made by the European Commission to harmonise VAT registration thresholds.