Self-employed Persons: Financial Support

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Tuesday 24th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Steve Barclay]

My right hon. Friend draws attention to the challenge that emerged from some earlier questions: the simpler the scheme, the less it accommodates often legitimate and deserving issues that Members raise on behalf of their constituents. I am very happy to have further discussions with him, but he will recognise the tension between simplicity and addressing all the concerns that colleagues raise.

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

Two of my constituents are musicians. One is in an orchestra, and the other is a freelancer. One will get 80% of his income paid, and the other will be on statutory sick pay. Surely, it would be better to have a system where one wealthy freelancer benefits but 100 do not go hungry.

[Steve Barclay]

I refer to my earlier comments. We are trying to target the support towards those who are in need, in a way that is operationally as deliverable as possible, mindful of the issues that have been raised. We also want to accommodate the other point that colleagues from across the House have raised, namely that we must ensure that those who have legitimate needs are not excluded from the measures.

Coronavirus: Employment Support

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Thursday 19th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

I take the challenge from my hon. Friend in the spirit in which it was intended. There is no sense that the Treasury is trying to over-engineer anything. We are not trying to restrain spending for the sake of restraining it. We want to bring forward an effective package of measures that effectively meets the needs of the most vulnerable. My hon. Friend makes the reasonable point that a number of colleagues of great seniority have raised significant points of interest, and I will ensure that their contributions are heard at the heart of this process today.

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

Dental practices are at high risk of spreading coronavirus, yet there was nothing for them in the financial package on Tuesday, which means they have to stay open, with an increased risk of spreading coronavirus. Will the Government give assurances that they will cover fixed-price dental costs so that dentists can close and provide only urgent care?

[John Glen]

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. I will take it back to my colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care and see what can be done.

Loan Charge 2019: Sir Amyas Morse Review

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Thursday 19th March 2020 Commons Chamber

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

Let me say from the outset that I am no fan of tax avoidance. The law on disguised remuneration schemes should have been—and now has been, rightly—tightened, but the aggressive retrospective action taken by the Government in pursuing the loan charge policy and the profound effects that this has had on many people’s lives are quite simply unjust and unfair.

A significant number of people affected by the loan charge policy, including some of my constituents, are freelancers, contractors, locums and agency workers. When IR35 was introduced by the Government of the day in 1999, some of those who were employed by limited company or personal service companies sought and took professional tax advice and were advised to use umbrella company loan schemes instead, as those schemes were “tax law and HMRC compliant”. Acting in good faith and following the advice to the letter, many entered into these loan schemes. In some cases, particularly in the public sector, people were not even aware that they were being paid through loans.

When the loan charge was introduced in 2017, seeking to recover a 20-year retrospective tax charge for all remuneration paid in the form of a loan, those affected were rightly angered and aggrieved, particularly as HMRC lumped all the loans together into one and insisted on the tax being paid in a single year. The shock and stress of such a draconian and unjust measure caused intense pressure on many of those affected and their families. There have been seven known suicides by people who are facing financial ruin as a result of the demands of backdated tax from HMRC, even though it is questionable whether the tax was even owed. Relationships have broken down, and it has affected people’s mental health.

It is worth noting that HMRC has pursued individuals acting in good faith, rather than those who enabled the disguised remuneration loan schemes. Thankful for small mercies, the fact that HMRC is now only pursuing schemes going back 10 years, instead of 20, is to be welcomed, but many individuals are still caught by the current situation. It seems that, unlike in other areas of law, statutory time limits are of no consequence.

When the Prime Minister was running to be leader of his party, he promised a review of the loan charge situation. That review was led by Sir Amyas Morse, and the report was published in December 2019. While I welcome the recommendations of the Morse report, many of which the Government have accepted, unfortunately it does not go far enough. The report also has one fatal flaw: it concludes that the law was clear from 2010. There were a number of ambiguities at the time, such as the situation relating to those who are self-employed. If the law was so clear at the time, why did HMRC not enforce the law then, but instead choose to introduce the loan charge in 2017?

As a member of the loan charge all-party parliamentary group, I call on the Government to do a number of things. I ask them to amend the date from which the loan charge applies from 2010 to when the Finance Bill received Royal Assent in 2017; to ensure that closed tax years remain closed; to ensure that those with incomes of under £30,000 have any outstanding balances written off after 10 years; and to ensure that legislation covers business owners and directors, as well as individual contractors.

The Government and HMRC’s reputation has been damaged by the way that they have mishandled the loan charge situation. One principle that must underpin our legal and tax system is that things should be just and fair. Unfortunately, the loan charge and its aggressive application has been neither just nor fair.

[Sally-Ann Hart (Hastings and Rye) (Con)]

The hon. Gentleman talks about the system being just and fair. As British people, we uphold the rule of law. That is part of the very nature and fabric of Britain. Retrospective legislation, in itself, is against the rule of law.

[Bambos Charalambous]

The hon. Member makes an excellent and pertinent point. We are discussing tax going back 20 years, and retrospective legislation should not be applied in this situation, because that is clearly unfair and unjust.

We must consider that, beyond the financial aspects of tax recovery, we are dealing with real people who need to be treated with fairness and respect. We have a moral duty to ensure that no more homes are lost, no more bankruptcies are filed, no more lives are lost and no more families are broken because of the loan charge policy.

Budget Resolutions

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2020 Commons Chamber

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

Uncharacteristically, I congratulate the Chancellor on his Budget: a Budget that admits the immoral failure of Tory austerity. The Tories’ decade of cuts has been savage, and, while I acknowledge that the Budget is a step in the right direction, it will not undo the damage done to our communities by austerity.

Let us not get carried away by the Tories’ apparent budget U-turn; let us check the small print. The Chancellor was right to promise that

“whatever extra resources our NHS needs to cope with coronavirus, it will get.”—[Official Report, 11 March 2020; Vol. 673, c. 279.]

The coronavirus pandemic is changing rapidly and could be the greatest challenge in a generation, but there are some glaring omissions from the Budget, which, if unaddressed, will repeat austerity’s failings.

Local councils are responsible for public health, and find themselves on the front line fighting coronavirus. Public health plays a huge role in preventing ill health, protecting the population and promoting education through communication, but with the new financial year for councils a fortnight away, there is still no mention of the public health grant. The Chancellor managed to find £500 million a year for potholes but said nothing about public health, and there has been an £850 million real-terms cut in public health funding. The Health Foundation predicts that an annual injection of £3.2 billion is needed to reverse Government cuts.

In my constituency, we have an endemic problem with public health funding. Earlier this month, my hon. Friends the Members for Enfield North (Feryal Clark) and for Edmonton (Kate Osamor) and I wrote to the Prime Minister to point out that public health grant calculations do not take measures of need and deprivation into account. Enfield is the ninth most deprived borough nationally. Even before coronavirus hit, the public health needs were complex and serious, yet Enfield receives £48 per head for public health whereas nearby Islington receives £104, more than double that amount. This simply feels like a postcode lottery. It is immoral to allow health inequalities to deepen in one of the poorest boroughs when fair funding could reverse the process.

That brings me to the second glaring omission, social care. We know that older populations and those with underlying health conditions are particularly vulnerable to this cruel virus, but it is also projected that the majority will recover. However, to be discharged after a hospital stay, many vulnerable people will rely on social care infrastructure, and there is a real danger that people will continue to be stuck in hospital. Let us take the example of my constituent’s mother. Despite being medically fit for discharge, she found herself unable to leave hospital for many weeks while waiting for a social care assessment. Once the assessment was done, there was a lack of appropriate social care, so she was stranded in hospital for an extra two months. That meant that a hospital bed needed by a sick person was being occupied by someone who did not need it. In November last year, one in three people up and down the country were waiting in hospitals for social care services.

The pandemic’s pressure on the NHS and the pressure on social care are intrinsically linked. An underfunded social care system only increases the pressure on the NHS when people cannot be discharged from hospital. The Chancellor should recognise that the social care system needs rebuilding. A situation that was unacceptable before coronavirus is now intolerable. We need immediate financial support to help adult social care services, keep vulnerable residents safe, and reduce pressure on the NHS. Public health must be properly funded, and historical injustices in funding must be urgently addressed.

To conclude, I welcome increased NHS funding, but I will not fall for the populist Budget hype. Other parts of the health and social care system have been neglected. Until the glaring omissions of funding for public health and social care are addressed, the Budget lacks substance. My constituents demand proper funding for our council, which is on the frontline of the fight against the pandemic.

Oral Answers to Questions

Bambos Charalambous Excerpts

Tuesday 11th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Jesse Norman]

That is a very telling point, and I draw the House’s attention to the parallel issue of sanitary products for women, on which I am pleased to say we will be able to act after we have left the EU.

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

10. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the adequacy of allocations of funding for local authorities.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Rishi Sunak)]

The financial health of local authorities remains a priority for the Government and for me personally as a former local government Minister. I am pleased to say that next year’s local government finance settlement outlines and will deliver the biggest year-on-year increase in local government spending power for over a decade.

[Bambos Charalambous]

For over 10 years, Enfield has been significantly underfunded, which has had a huge impact on the provision of local services. The proposed settlement goes nowhere near addressing the shortfall. Will the Minister meet me and the Enfield Borough Over 50s Forum to discuss Enfield’s needs?

[Rishi Sunak]

I am pleased to say that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is undertaking a review of the funding formula for local government, and I am sure that Enfield Council has participated in that. There will be a formal consultation later this year, and I encourage the council to input its particular needs if those are not adequately captured by today’s formula. In the forthcoming financial year, Enfield can look forward to an almost 6% cash increase in the spending power it has available for its residents and communities.