Oral Answers to Questions

Elizabeth Truss Excerpts

Tuesday 9th April 2019 Commons Chamber

[Alison Thewliss (Glasgow Central) (SNP)]

4. If he will end the freeze on working-age benefits.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Elizabeth Truss)]

Thanks to our stewardship of the economy and the fact that wages are now rising above inflation, we are able to move on from the benefits freeze. From April 2020, we expect that increases will resume in line with inflation.

[Alison Thewliss]

That entirely misses the point. Research by the Resolution Foundation published last week confirms that the value of child benefit is at a record low, 40 years after it was introduced. Meanwhile, the shambolic Tory Government throw good money after bad in their botched Brexit plans. Is it not time for the Chief Secretary to speak to the Chancellor and ask him to get his priorities right and to give families a much-needed pay rise?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I would have thought that the hon. Lady would welcome the fact that unemployment in Scotland is at a record low level, thanks to our policies of getting more people into work and of making work pay.

[Kirsty Blackman (Aberdeen North) (SNP)]

Yesterday marked the beginning of the fourth year of the benefits freeze. Since it was brought in in 2016, the consumer prices index has increased by 6.6%, but working-age benefits have been frozen. That literally means that those in the most need can afford fewer necessities. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says that by 2020, the benefits freeze will have pushed 400,000 into poverty. How can the Chancellor justify that?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I would have thought that the hon. Lady would welcome the fact that we are ending the benefits freeze. It is responsible to do so only when people in work’s wages are rising. Thanks to our economic reforms, our reforms to employment law and our welfare reforms, we are now able to do that.

[Kirsty Blackman]

The benefits freeze is a political choice made by this Conservative Government and this Conservative Treasury; it is not a necessity. It is one of the biggest cuts to social security we have seen in recent times. The entire cost of the work allowance concessions over three years amounts to less than the benefits freeze takes away in one year. When FTSE 100 chief executive pay has increased by 11% in the past year, is it not now time that the UK Government got their priorities in order and protected those who need it most rather than giving tax cuts to the richest?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The hon. Lady obviously has not heard my answer that we are now moving to a situation in which benefits will rise in line with inflation, but let us be honest about the choices that the Scottish Government are making. Their choice is to raise taxes on people earning £50,000 by £1,500 a year, driving business out of Scotland and making the Scottish economy less successful.

[Alex Chalk (Cheltenham) (Con)]

5. What steps he is taking to increase take-home pay for low-paid workers.

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[Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) (Lab)]

8. What recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of pay since 2010.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Elizabeth Truss)]

Pay has increased by 20% since 2010, we have a record number of people in work and wages are growing at their fastest pace for 10 years.

[Mrs Lewell-Buck]

I thank the Minister for that answer. However, the ongoing benefit freeze will result in those on very low incomes being more than £800 worse off by 2020. Meanwhile, tax cuts for the rich mean that those who earn more than £60,000 will be better off. The UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights said that UK poverty is a direct result of political choices, so when will the Government address the fact that their political choices have led to one in eight people who are in work living in poverty?

[Elizabeth Truss]

At the Budget in 2018, we put an extra £630 into the pockets of working families on universal credit. The way we will make sure that our country succeeds is by increasing economic growth, building more houses and cutting the cost of living, not by saying that business is the enemy and trying to crash our economy.

[Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry) (Con)]

What assessment has the Minister made of the rather bizarre policy suggestion of removing personal allowances from the low paid?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I think it is an extremely strange idea. What we need to do is cut taxes for those on low incomes, and that is what we are doing: from this April we will cut taxes by £130 for those on basic rate taxes, meaning that they will be able to keep more of their own money.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

At this stage of the economic cycle there are many more people in employment, but many of them are in low paid or part-time employment. What steps are the Treasury and the Government taking to increase the level at which people earn a living to pay for the necessities of life?

[Elizabeth Truss]

Let us be clear about the statistics. Over the past year, 90% of the increase in employment has come from full-time workers, and 97% has come from high-skilled jobs. We are building an economy fit for the future.

[Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)]

9. Whether he plans to reform stamp duty land tax.

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[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

17. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on funding for remedial fire safety work on privately owned residential tower blocks.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Elizabeth Truss)]

I meet the Housing Secretary regularly to make sure there are sufficient funds in his budget to address the issues.

[Robert Neill]

There is a particularly pressing need in the case of blocks such as Northpoint in Bromley, where the owner and the developer refuse to take responsibility, and intend to use legal powers to pass on the costs of aluminium composite material remediation to the leaseholders. That is a complete breach of the Government’s undertakings. We need a fund specifically to provide funds for this—directly to leaseholders, if necessary. What is the Minister doing to advance that issue?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I know that my hon. Friend has been in touch with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on this issue. We fully expect building owners in the private sector to take action to ensure appropriate safety measures are in place. We have written to all owners to remind them of their responsibilities. In addition, local authorities have the power to complete works and recover costs from private owners of high rise residential buildings.

[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)]

19. What recent assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of productivity since 2010.

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[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

21. Whether he plans to allocate funding for the provision of sanitary products beyond secondary schools and colleges.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Elizabeth Truss)]

The Department for Education is implementing this policy with the purpose of increasing attendance in schools. That is the factor it will take under consideration.

[Janet Daby]

The Chancellor’s spring statement announcement of free period products in secondary schools and colleges was welcomed—very much so. However, he has failed to mentioned pupil referral units and other alternative education provision, as well as the fact that some children start their periods in primary schools. He has also failed to consider women and girls in vulnerable situations such as homelessness shelters, refugees and women refuges. Will he take a human rights approach to period poverty to ensure universal free access to sanitary products for all women, so we can put a real end to period poverty?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I know that the children’s Minister has already said he will look specifically at primary schools and my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary is going to consult widely on the issue.

[Emma Hardy (Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[Emma Hardy]

Shoplifting crime is increasing, antisocial behaviour crime is increasing, violent crime is increasing. The Prime Minister said that austerity is over, so when can we expect to see the Treasury give the Home Office the funding needed to replace the 20,000 police officers lost since 2010?

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Elizabeth Truss)]

In the Budget settlement at the end of the last year we made sure that there was extra money going into the police, increasing funding and increasing spending power in real terms. We have also allocated extra funding to deal with the scourge of knife crime.

[Sir Patrick McLoughlin (Derbyshire Dales) (Con)]

The Government claim that spending on education is higher than it has ever been. Does that take into account the extra costs the Government have put on schools?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We have provided schools with additional funding to cope with the rise in pension contributions. We will be looking at school funding as part of the spending review and I will take my right hon. Friend’s representations into account.

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)]

With the Brexit dialogue ongoing it is best to leave exchanges on that topic to the negotiations, although I hope we can all count on the Chancellor, if not everyone on his own side, to continue to insist that no deal is not an option.

Turning to Google, when will the Chancellor tackle the scandal of Google’s tax avoidance? Google has an estimated taxable profit of £8.3 billion in the UK, so it should have a tax bill, according to the Tax Justice Network, of £1.5 billion. That would pay for 60,000 nurses, 50,000 teachers, seven new hospitals, 75 new schools. It pays £67 million. Why is the Chancellor, year on year, letting Google the tax avoider off the hook?

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[Bambos Charalambous (Enfield, Southgate) (Lab)]

T3. My borough of Enfield has seven times more households living in temporary accommodation than the national average, with 18% of people in Enfield classed as being low paid. I have no doubt that the two figures are related so how can the Chancellor defend the Government’s record on in-work poverty, insecure work and zero-hours contracts, which have caused so much hardship for so many?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I think the hon. Gentleman should speak to his friend the Mayor of London about what he is doing to increase house building in London.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

What plans are the Government making for a UK investment bank to take over the role of the European Investment Bank in the UK economy?

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

T4.   Last month’s Office for National Statistics figures show that life expectancy for the poorest has fallen whereas for the rich, it has increased. Analysis into the key drivers of that, including Public Health England’s investigations, shows that it is the result of cumulative tax and social security changes. I therefore ask the Chancellor, once again, what will he do about that, and particularly, will he stop immediately the benefit freeze that has such a devastating effect on people’s lives?

[Elizabeth Truss]

As I have said, we are moving on from the benefits freeze. We are in a position now where real wages are growing and benefits will increase in line with inflation from 2020. However, the best route out of poverty and to helping people is ensuring that children get a good education and that more jobs are available in our economy.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

Does the Chancellor agree that, in view of the failure of London Capital & Finance, of Premier FX, of individual police forces around the country to investigate economic crime, and of the Serious Fraud Office in yet another case, it is time we had a single economic crime police force in this country to deal with things properly?

--- Later in debate ---

[Elizabeth Truss]

I was very pleased to visit the hon. Gentleman at Dudley College and see the fantastic work that it does. He put forward some interesting ideas about local transport. We are conducting a zero-based capital review as part of the spending review and of course we will look at proposals on all those fronts.

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

Does the Chancellor agree that the announcement that small shops will save up to £8,000 in business rates is a fantastic boost for our high streets? Will he please commit to supporting the bid from Redditch for the future high streets fund?

[Ruth George (High Peak) (Lab)]

T6. The Chief Secretary said in response to the right hon. Member for Derbyshire Dales (Sir Patrick McLoughlin), who is no longer in his place, that schools would be funded for the additional costs of the teacher pension scheme, yet the Minister for School Standards wrote to me yesterday saying that he was still in the process of reviewing evidence. Schools have not been informed. They have not been given those costs within their budgets and they are having to decide whether to make redundancies because they do not have the information. Please will the Chief Secretary provide clarification?

[Elizabeth Truss]

As I have said, we have committed ourselves to ensuring that schools will be funded for that purpose.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

Will the Chancellor explain why the customs union is the wrong policy choice for the future strength of the UK economy?

[Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)]

T7. Cuts in alcohol duty have cost the Treasury £4 billion over the last five years. What assessment has the Chancellor made of the impact of those cuts on public health and alcohol-related deaths?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I observe that the minimum alcohol price in Scotland has resulted in an increase in the consumption of alcohol.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

The Chief Secretary has said yet again that the Government think building owners should pick up the cost of aluminium composite material cladding remediation. Does she understand that there is no legal means of enforcing that obligation? In the absence of such a means, will she please revisit the issue of direct funding for the leaseholders as a matter of urgency?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I note that a growing list of companies, such as Barratt Developments, Mace Group Ltd and Legal & General, are doing the right thing and taking responsibility for paying for remediation. The Government urge all other owners and developers to follow the leads of those companies.

[David Linden (Glasgow East) (SNP)]

T8.   Housing associations in Parkhead, Tollcross and Shettleston have high levels of tenement stock, and the cost of maintaining it is prohibitive. Will the Chancellor agree to meet me to discuss the case for a modest reduction in VAT to preserve tenement housing, which is a key part of our architectural heritage in Glasgow?

--- Later in debate ---

[Elizabeth Truss]

I hope to follow in the footsteps of former Chief Secretaries who have been keen to keep a tight rein on public spending and ensure that people can keep more of their own money, because ultimately every penny of public spending is money that people have earned and that they could be spending on other things.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

Some 55% of Scots pay lower income tax than they would pay if they lived in England. Does the Chancellor not agree that he should take inspiration from the SNP’s progressive Finance Minister by protecting public services and the poorest, rather than the better-off?

[Elizabeth Truss]

The reality is that the SNP Government are putting people off relocating to Scotland and earning higher incomes in Scotland, because those earning £50,000 have to pay an additional £1,500 in tax every year.

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

What is the Chancellor going to do to help the WASPI women—Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign—who have been denied their pensions? It has been going on for far too long and it is about time he did something about it.

[Elizabeth Truss]

We have had to take difficult decisions because of the state of the public finances that we were left with. We have already made improvements in relation to those women being able to retire, but it is right that we do not burden future generations as a result of our existing commitments.

[Several hon. Members rose—]