Finance (No. 4) Bill
Debate between Hywel Williams and Christopher Chope(12 years ago)
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Mr Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con)
I beg to move amendment 9, page 4, line 33, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
The Temporary Chair (Hywel Williams)
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Amendment 10, page 4, line 34, at end add
‘for recipients of child benefit’.
Amendment 75, page 4, line 35, at end add—
‘(2) Schedule 1 will not come into effect until a study has been carried out into ways of mitigating the impact of the Schedule on families with only one earner, compared with families with two earners, and placed in the Library of the House of Commons.’.
Clause stand part.
Amendment 11, in schedule 1, page 131, line 7, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 12, page 131, line 8, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 25, page 131, line 10, leave out ‘£50,000’ and insert ‘£60,000’.
Amendment 26, page 131, line 11, leave out
‘one or both of conditions A and B are’
and insert ‘condition A is’.
Amendment 13, page 131, line 12, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 27, page 131, leave out lines 19 to 24.
Amendment 28, page 131, line 24, at end insert—
‘(5) A person (P) is not liable to a high income child benefit charge if the total adjusted net income for the year of that person and any partner does not exceed £100,000’.
Amendment 77, page 131, line 24, at end insert—
‘(5) A person (P) is not liable to a high income child benefit charge if the total adjusted net income for the year of that person and any partner does not exceed £100,000, subject to any child or children in respect of whom child benefit is claimed being resident in the United Kingdom notwithstanding the European Communities Act 1972.’.
Amendment 14, page 131, line 26, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 29, page 131, line 29. leave out from ‘met’ to end of line 30.
Amendment 30, page 131, line 31, leave out ‘and B’.
Amendment 31, page 131, line 32, leave out from ‘is’ to end of line 13 on page 132 and insert ‘100%’.
Amendment 32, page 132, line 14, leave out from beginning to end of line 2 on page 133.
Amendment 33, page 133, leave out lines 16 to 26.
Amendment 34, page 133, line 29, leave out ‘another’ and insert ‘a higher’.
Amendment 35, page 133, line 30, leave out from ‘681B(1)(a)’ to end of line 33.
Amendment 36, page 133, leave out lines 36 to 39.
Amendment 37, page 134, leave out lines 3 and 4.
Amendment 38, page 134, leave out lines 10 to 12.
Amendment 15, page 134, line 28, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 39, page 134, leave out lines 34 to 37.
Amendment 16, page 135, line 9, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 40, page 135, leave out lines 13 to 23.
Amendment 41, page 135, leave out lines 37 to 40.
Amendment 17, page 135, line 38, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 18, page 136, line 9, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 42, page 136, leave out lines 13 to 23.
Amendment 19, page 136, line 35, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 20, page 136, line 38, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 21, page 136, line 45, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 22, page 137, line 13, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 23, page 137, line 22, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Amendment 24, page 137, line 26, leave out ‘high’ and insert ‘higher’.
Schedule 1 stand part.
Mr Chope
I rise to speak to amendment 9 and the other amendments in the group, standing in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough (Mr Leigh). We face a rather unsatisfactory state of affairs, because the guillotine will fall at 6 o’clock, which means that we have precisely 52 minutes to discuss the whole of clause 8 and schedule 1, which deal with child benefit and will affect 1.2 million families up and down the country, potentially yielding £1.5 billion for the Exchequer. How can one do justice to the complexity of what the Government are proposing in this short space of time?
Regional Pay (Public Sector)
Debate between Hywel Williams and Christopher Chope(12 years, 3 months ago)
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Hywel Williams
Indeed. The hon. Lady’s point is pertinent to the debate.
When cuts were made to wider public sector budgets, the effects were largely on the public sector, of course, but also on the para-private sector—companies that have contracts with the public sector—which is integral to local economies. Similarly, those whose livelihoods depend on services to those in employment will be at risk from the proposals. As well as the local economy, a whole host of small companies that service the public sector in our regions will be affected.
I have great sympathy with Labour Members—I am pleased to see some of them here today—but I appreciate that they will be fighting the proposals with one hand tied behind their backs. It does not please me to make the point about the introduction of regional pay by the previous Government, but the Labour Government promoted the idea. They floated it in 2003, and they introduced it in the Courts Service in England and Wales in 2008, when it was not entirely successful. The Public and Commercial Services Union has told me that regional and local pay in the Ministry of Justice has not been a success, and that with the introduction of local pay in the Courts Service in 2007, there were problems with regional pay zones in the Ministry of Justice. The policy created inequalities and tensions, and it was ultimately unsuccessful and had to be reformed. I hope that lessons have been learned, but I worry that the wrong ones might have been learned.
I conclude by saying that the effect of regional pay will be far-reaching and negative and that it will not improve the private sector. There is a strong likelihood that it will lead to institutionalisation of low pay in some places, and it will certainly make it much more difficult to attract new workers, as my hon. Friend the Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr has said. The Treasury must reconsider its stance, and I will certainly contribute to the debate as it develops, as will my hon. Friend and my right hon. Friend the Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Mr Llwyd).
I apologise if my final point sounds light. I am pleased to see that Conservatives in Wales are represented here. The comments of the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Glyn Davies) were interesting. I appreciate that Scottish Tories may have problems in mustering manpower. It has been said that there are more pandas in Scotland than Tory MPs, and if the London Conservative and Liberal Democrat Government push the regional pay issue through, Tory MSPs in Edinburgh will be rarer than polar bears on the Clyde.
Mr Christopher Chope (in the Chair)
Order. Some hon. Members have indicated to me informally that they wish to participate in the debate. However, I will not call anyone if they do not rise and seek to catch my eye. This is the new year, a time to exercise the muscles and become fitter, so perhaps hon. Members who wish to speak will rise in their place.