Treasury

Wednesday 22nd March 2023 Ministerial Corrections

Topical Questions

The following is an extract from Topical Questions to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 21 March 2023.

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

T9.   OBR analysis of last week’s Budget has shown that there will be no real-terms growth in public services in 2023-24 and just 1% in 2024-25. Given the recent Patriotic Millionaires UK survey showing that more than seven in 10 millionaires want to have a fair tax on their wealth—by wealth, we are talking about £10 million of investable assets—will the Chancellor look at this?

[Jeremy Hunt]

What I say to the hon. Lady, whom I greatly respect, is that we did a lot for public services in the autumn statement, including a £3 billion increase in the annual schools budget and an £8 billion increase in the annual health and care budget. We are always focusing on public services, and we do support a progressive tax system.

[Official Report, 21 March 2023, Vol. 730, c. 157.]

Letter of correction from the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Jeremy Hunt).

An error has been identified in the response I gave to the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams).

The correct response should have been:

[Jeremy Hunt]

What I say to the hon. Lady, whom I greatly respect, is that we did a lot for public services in the autumn statement, including a £2.3 billion increase in the annual schools budget and an £8 billion increase in the annual health and care budget. We are always focusing on public services, and we do support a progressive tax system.