Infected Blood Compensation Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2026

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)]

My Lords, we must thank the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, for her introduction to this amendment. Like others, I have had some desperately sad correspondence from widows whose husbands died relatively early after infection. Infection denied them children, some suffered serious discrimination within their family, some find that their husbands medical records are missing, and probate rules have created barriers. All those affected are so deeply wounded by the lasting emotional, financial and practical consequences of the scandal, retraumatised over decades of seeking accountability. As one widow wrote,

“no amount of money will bring back our loved ones, and there is no way you can put a figure on what we have had to go through”.

There are ongoing problems, and we must follow Sir Brian’s lead. Two years ago, though, not a penny was going out the door in recognition of the wrongs perpetrated. The delays until now are shameful. I thank the Minister and the civil servants for meeting me. The civil servants working on this are being as scrupulous as they can. The compensation coming from the Treasury, in effect from taxpayers, recognises as a nation the extent of the scandal: the NHS purchased contaminated products, and some professionals abused the trust of people in services meant to protect and respect life. We have gone from nowhere to where we are today, thanks only to those wronged speaking out, time and again, to a system that seemed deaf to their plight.

My noble friend Lady Campbell of Surbiton cannot be here today. Through her own experiences, she has taught me and others so much. I am grateful to her for sharing her thoughts on this amendment and on the need for recognising those affected, as well as those infected. Differing eligibility criteria and inconsistencies in estimating financial loss and bereavement have led to inequalities and unintended consequences. Those affected fear claims over their deceased infected relative being increasingly delayed.

The proposed death recognition award should be amended to recognise those who experienced the bereavement, rather than automatically becoming part of an estate, as probate barriers can stop the person most affected being recognised in the compensation. Deceased infected claims progress more slowly than many expected, prolonging uncertainty for bereaved families. Families who provided years of unpaid care feel that their contribution has gone inadequately recognised. Because financial loss awards differ depending on dates and circumstances, many families believe this creates unjust disparities in compensation that they cannot understand.

Thousands of families live with the consequences of the infected blood scandal. While no compensation can replace a loved one, it can acknowledge the profound loss suffered and help restore confidence that the state is committed to delivering justice fairly. There is an ancient saying: “Trust arrives on foot and leaves on horseback”. This compensation scheme and the Hillsborough law might be the foot soldiers of trust in this nation, if, and only if, we have candour and get the subsequent actions right.

Declining Birth Rates

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Thursday 4th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)]

My Lords, I am most grateful to my colleague, the noble Baroness, Lady Nargund, for having secured this debate, and to the noble Baroness, Lady O’Grady, for having introduced the business of intergenerational solidarity. I want to concentrate on the other end—not on birth but on this older population, because it makes a civic contribution through volunteers and through its economic impact.

The total economic impact of volunteers is to save the country around £27.4 billion per annum. Those over the age of 85 in employment bring in £6 billion to £8 billion in income tax revenue annually, and 1.7 million people earn around half what younger earners gain in employment. So they are working and earning less, but they are bringing in tax and certainly not being a burden on the state.

But there are families where the child cannot be looked after in the conventional way, and I will focus on kinship for a moment. In the 2021 census, most children living in kinship care—that is 60%—lived with at least one grandparent. The 2025 survey showed that nearly half the respondents were aged over 60 and more than one in eight were aged over 70. Seven out of 10 kinship carers are grandparents to at least one child in their care. They are taking a huge burden off the state in many ways, yet they suffer significant practical and financial problems, often using their own savings to look after these children. They have found that, if they go for a special guardianship order, they jeopardise their pension going into the future. For some, it is better financially to remain as kinship foster carers because they get a foster care allowance, but that does not provide as much stability for the child. So I hope that the issue of kinship care will be looked at seriously by the Government because we could improve it and the contribution of kinship carers is enormous.

Looking at volunteers—I declare that I am president of Attend—for Attend alone we have 400 groups across the country working in hospitals. They are led by officers who are usually between 70 and 90 years of age. They work many hours voluntarily. There are about 20,000 people actively supporting their community by belonging to one of these groups, and for each of them there are 10 others who are ad hoc volunteers coming in to provide support across their community. Through Attend alone, we have about 20 young people every year gaining work experience as volunteers in order to strengthen their CVs and move forward later—that volunteer contribution is essential.

I also point out, as president of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, that falls avoidance is absolutely essential. If we avoid falls among older people and we connect them with other people, often through volunteering, we avoid loneliness and the problems of people saying that they feel that they are a burden. When people feel that they are a burden, they avoid seeking help early and present with problems later. One of the big problems in this older group is hidden alcohol abuse. These are all aspects that we must address if we are going to address the demographic challenges we face.

NHS 10-Year Plan

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Wednesday 9th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)]

My Lords, from these Benches, we too send best wishes to the noble Baroness, Lady Merron.

The stress on prevention in this plan is welcome, but it does not adequately address the commercial determinants of ill health. On every high street there is alcohol for sale which does not have minimum unit pricing, and that is not coming in. There are vape shops and betting shops, and poor quality ultra-processed food is the food available for purchase. Putting the onus on the individual under the name of choice is unfair when they do not have anything reasonable to choose from that they can afford. I really push the Government to look at these broader commercial determinants of ill health.

I was disappointed that palliative care was mentioned only once, because the Commission on Palliative and End-of-Life Care has shown that good care is less costly than poor care. It can avoid inappropriate admissions to hospital and support people to live well. When at peace emotionally and physically comfortable, they can gently let go of life and die gently in the place of their choice, which is usually their home. But for care at home, they need support 24/7. My concern has been that the plan does not really emphasise that there are times at nights and weekends when AI and technology are not the answer. You need a person who is available to come out and provide help and support to someone in the home. I hope that in the neighbourhoods, the 24/7 need will be addressed and that there will not be an excessive reliance on AI, thinking that it will be the answer to everything. I look forward to hearing the response.

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her questions and for her best wishes to my noble friend Lady Merron—I am sure that she will receive them. I thank her for bringing up the commercial determinants of health, which are critical. I reassure her that, outside of the health scenario, an enormous amount of work is happening. The NHS is going to work much more closely with local government—which has responsibility for trading standards, for example—and other local public services. We have certain things in place. Come the autumn, we will be bringing back the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, for example, with its huge opportunity to create a smoke-free generation. We are restricting junk food advertising targeted at children, banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to the under-16s, and we will be the first country in the world to introduce mandatory health food sales reporting for all large companies in the food sector.

The noble Baroness raised a few questions. I have to be brief to give other people the opportunity to come in, but palliative care is a real priority moving forward. I will leave it there, but I am happy to pick up anything that I have missed with her outside the House.

National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 4th February 2025 Grand Committee

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness Finlay of Llandaff) (CB)]

My Lords, if there is a Division in the Chamber while we are sitting, the Committee will adjourn as soon as the Division Bells are rung, and resume after 10 minutes.

Clause 2: Secondary threshold for secondary Class 1 contributions

Amendment 18

Moved by

Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Report stage
Monday 15th May 2023 Lords Chamber

These are three simple subsections to be added, hopefully, to Clause 17. I hope my noble friend will give them favourable consideration, because it is very important that we get any laws relating to the environment as right as possible. I beg to move.

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness Finlay of Llandaff) (CB)]

My Lords, I must inform that House that, if Amendment 48 is agreed to, I will not be able to call Amendment 49 due to pre-emption.

[Lord Krebs (CB)]

My Lords, I will speak to the cross-party Amendment 48 in my name and those of the noble Baronesses, Lady Parminter and Lady Hayman of Ullock, and the noble Lord, Lord Duncan of Springbank. As always, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Earl, Lord Caithness; he gave me a namecheck in his speech which I hope to add to my CV, so that for my next job application I can say, “As quoted by the noble Earl, Lord Caithness”.

I support in large part what he said about the importance of rigorous scientific evidence to underpin policy—he referred to the environment, but I would say more broadly. I will add a note of caution from my personal experience. As many noble Lords will know, I was responsible for instigating the randomised badger culling trials, the so-called “Krebs trials”, which were meant definitively to determine whether killing badgers was a good way of controlling bovine tuberculosis. The trial was probably the largest ecological experiment ever done in this country; it did produce results, but it did not settle the arguments or the policy. So science has an important role to play, and I support the noble Earl’s amendment, but we must recognise that political decisions come in as well.

I turn now to Amendment 48. I want to keep it brief so I will say what it is not and what it is. It is not an attempt to block any change. It is also not an alternative to the earlier proposals that came from my noble and learned friend Lord Hope of Craighead to involve Parliament in future decisions. It is not either of those. It supports the Government in their declared ambitions for the environment and for food. In doing so, it also ensures that the Government make good decisions rather than bad decisions. The amendment is about protecting the environment and consumer interests in relation to food.

These two areas—food and environment—are crucial to the REUL Bill, as between them they account for approximately half of the 4,900 regulations that come under REUL according to the current dashboard. At its board meeting in December 2022, the Food Standards Agency noted 800 items related to food and feed. The REUL dashboard reports about 1,700 items related to Defra, most of which concern environmental protection. These two areas are also crucial because of public concern. You have to think only of sewage in rivers, outbreaks of food-borne illness or GM foods to realise that these areas—environment and food—resonate with the public. These two areas also attracted a great deal of debate from your Lordships in Committee.

The amendment that I have proposed has three elements: first, non-regression—which we have already heard about from the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle. Any future changes, according to Amendment 48, should not reduce or water down current levels of environmental protection or food safety standards. Nor should they contravene any international agreements to which the UK has committed.

My second point is expert input. This resonates with the amendment in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Caithness. Regulations should not be changed without consulting the relevant experts. These should include the Office for Environmental Protection, the Food Standards Agency and their cognate bodies in Scotland.

The third element is transparency. The amendment would require the Government to publish a report showing how any changes do not reduce environmental or food protections and what advice was received from the experts consulted. As a further transparency measure, the amendment also requires the Food Standards Agency, together with Food Standards Scotland, to report on the impact of any changes resulting from the implementation of this Bill on food safety and other consumer interests in relation to food.

The proposals in these three areas—non-regression, expert advice and transparency—are totally in line with the Government’s own commitments. They have said over and over again that they do not want to weaken environmental protection or compromise food safety and standards. The noble Lord, Lord Benyon, who I am delighted to see is going to respond to this grouping, has himself said that on more than one occasion in your Lordships’ House. This amendment simply formalises these commitments in the Bill. As we heard earlier, Clauses 13, 14, 16 and 17 leave Ministers a great deal of discretionary power. While, of course, we totally trust current Ministers to keep their word, who knows who will be in charge in future? This amendment will ensure that, in the future, Governments will build on the good work that has been done up to now and the promises that have been made.

Outside this House, who supports this amendment? Let me give noble Lords some examples. I asked the Food and Drink Federation whether it supported the food parts of this amendment. The FDF, with more than 1,000 members ranging from global brands to innovative start-ups, represents the UK’s largest manufacturing sector. It says in writing that it is happy to be quoted as supporting this amendment. If the Government wish to be business friendly—and I have heard that said—here is a good place to start: accept an amendment that has the weight of nearly half a million jobs behind it.

Equally, non-regression of environmental protections is supported by the Government’s statutory advisers, the Office for Environmental Protection and the Climate Change Committee, which both said in recent written statements that it is important that the REUL Bill includes a non-regression clause.

The amendment applies to the whole of the UK, and in that context it is noteworthy that the Scottish Government have also written to express their support for Amendment 48.

I hope that in this brief introduction I have said enough to convince your Lordships that this amendment is sensible, proportionate and fully supportive of the Government’s declared commitments on the environment and food. Indeed, I cannot see why on earth the Government would not accept it, and I very much look forward to the Minister agreeing with me. However, if that agreement is not forthcoming, and recognising from Committee that there was widespread support from across the House for the areas of environmental and food protections, I will wish to test the opinion of the House.

Covid-19: Co-ordination with Devolved Administrations

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Thursday 8th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, there has been extraordinary support from the United Kingdom Government to the devolved Administrations, Scotland not least, both financial and practical. Indeed, I believe the UK Government have provided around 55% of tests in Scotland. However, I return to the fundamental point. I shall not comment on the performance of the devolved Administrations as I do not think that is appropriate, but they have devolved authority to act on public health within their borders.

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)]

What assessment have the Government made of the impact of the relaxation of Covid restrictions in England on the other parts of the UK when the inevitable behavioural changes impact on the devolved nations? Did that include cost estimates? Has consideration been given to transport systems moving people from one part of the UK to another? Will the transport police be supported in ensuring that passengers respect the infection control measures that are greatest along the route of the journey, whether the origin or the destination country?

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, my advice is that everybody should respect the rules in place. Rules are normally clear in whichever part of the United Kingdom. Further announcements are being made as we go along. My right honourable friend the Transport Secretary made an announcement on travel this morning, for example, and there will be further announcements next Monday. Of course all public health factors are taken into consideration.

Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill [HL]

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 25th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (CB)]

My Lords, I am delighted to be able to speak to this Bill, and I am delighted that the noble Lord, Lord Bird, has adopted the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. I shall reflect on the six years that that has been in place, because I live and work in Wales. It has acted as a checklist for public bodies about the way that they behave. It has created an undercurrent of different thinking. As the noble Baroness, Lady Blower, said, it has built on the model from New Zealand.

The Act set seven goals. The first is to have a resilient country. Many things of course are completely out of our control, and it is to plan for the unexpected, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay, pointed out, that we need to create the skillset and thinking in the next generation.

The second goal was better health, as the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, has said, which is completely compatible with the Health Foundation paper. The third is greater equality, which fits the Government’s levelling-up agenda. The fourth is to have cohesive communities, supporting each other and improving our relationships all together. The fifth is having a thriving culture, recognising the creativity and identity—in Wales, of course, this includes the language—that creates a community that can be self-supporting.

The sixth goal is to be globally responsible. Has that not just come home? We have an Environment Bill at the moment, and I suggest that that must be completely compatible with this aim. As the noble Lords, Lord Wigley and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, said, climate change is upon us and staring us in the face.

The seventh goal is prosperity. That goes far wider than money; it is about the value of relationships, of work, of safe housing and of better mental and emotional health, and so on, in our society. My noble and learned friend Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd pointed out that the Welsh legislation does not contain duties and enforcements, but that has not stopped the legislation changing thinking.

I hope that this Bill will give us an opportunity to protect children from violence. I would like to see an amendment to provide greater protection to children because, if we repeal the legal defence of “reasonable punishment”, we will do a great deal. The battery of a child cannot be justified on the grounds that it constitutes reasonable punishment. There is strong and consistent evidence from good-quality research that physical punishment is associated with increased childhood aggression and anti-social behaviour.

I hope the Bill has a fair passage through Committee. The future is about today. It cannot be put off into the future, because today does indeed come from the past.

UK and EU Relations

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Thursday 24th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Frost (Con)]

My Lords, I am very familiar with that particular issue. In fact, my last private trip aboard before the pandemic was to see “Das Rheingold” in Berlin. I look forward to such things resuming. I will take away the particular point he mentions. DCMS has established a working group with representatives from across the sectors looking at these particular problems in a high level of detail. I will make sure that that is drawn to the attention of those involved.

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness Finlay of Llandaff) (CB)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. My apologies to noble Lords who were unable to ask their questions. We now come to the third Question to the Minister of State. I call the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock.

Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Thursday 24th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Frost (Con)]

My Lords, I have indeed looked at that evidence. It is extremely interesting in all kinds of ways. Obviously, we talk directly to many of the groups which have submitted evidence. When I look at the views expressed by the business group, I am struck that it recommends solutions which we ourselves have put forward. We have put forward a proposal for the veterinary agreement based on equivalence, for a trusted trader scheme, for arrangements for pharmaceuticals, and so on. I think we have a good common understanding of the problems. The difficulty is in developing a constructive negotiation that gets us towards solutions.

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness Finlay of Llandaff) (CB)]

My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. I apologise to the noble Lords, Lord Dubs and Lord Moylan.

Finance Bill

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

2nd reading & Committee negatived & 3rd reading
Tuesday 8th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office and the Treasury (Lord Agnew of Oulton) (Con)]

My Lords, we are here to debate the annual Finance Bill, introduced in the other place following the Budget on 3 March. My right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlined a Budget with three key objectives: first, to protect jobs and livelihoods and provide additional support to get the British people and British businesses through the pandemic; secondly, to be clear about the need to fix the public finances once we are on the way to recovery and to start that work; thirdly, as we emerge from the pandemic, to lay the groundwork for a robust and resilient future economy. This Finance Bill enacts changes to taxation that support all those objectives.

The House will of course be aware of the severe public health and economic shock caused by the pandemic; at its peak, the economy shrank by 10%, the largest fall in more than 300 years. The Government have responded with an extraordinary package of support for the economy which, taking into account measures introduced in the 2020 Budget, is now estimated at £407 billion for this year and last year. This has been essential. Thanks to it and the rapid rollout of vaccinations, the Office for Budget Responsibility and other independent authorities now expect a swifter recovery than had previously been forecast. Indeed, the OBR expects the UK economy to recover to pre-crisis levels six months earlier than it did previously—in the second, rather than the fourth, quarter of 2022.

Our first objective is protecting jobs and livelihoods. There are positive signals that we are now on the right path, but it is crucial that we continue to support the economy over the coming months and deliver on the Budget’s first aim of protecting jobs and livelihoods. That is why the tax measures outlined in the Bill go further to support the economy. We are extending the 5% reduced VAT rate until 30 September to protect almost 150,000 hard-hit hospitality and tourism businesses which employ over 2.4 million people. To help those businesses manage the transition back to the standard rate, VAT will then increase to an interim rate of 12.5% from October until the end of March.

The Bill ensures that any business that took advantage of the original VAT deferral new payment scheme will be able to pay that deferred VAT in up to 11 equal payments from March 2021, rather than by one larger payment due by 31 March 2021. For those businesses that have been pushed into losses, the trading loss carry-back rule is being extended from the existing one year to three years for losses of up to £2 million. This will deliver a significant cash-flow benefit for eligible businesses.

The Bill also puts into legislation the temporary cut in stamp duty land tax, with a residential stamp duty nil rate band remaining at £500,000 in England and Northern Ireland until the end of June. This will be followed by a phased transition back to the normal rate. From 1 July 2021, it will fall to £250,000 until the end of September, before returning to £125,000 on 1 October. This extension helps buyers and supports jobs which rely on the property industry.

As well as protecting jobs and livelihoods, the Bill takes important steps to deliver on the second of the Budget’s key objectives: to strengthen public finances as we emerge from the pandemic. The coronavirus response, as we all know, created unprecedented challenges for the Exchequer. The first outturn estimates from the Office for National Statistics show borrowing for last year is estimated to have totalled £300 billion, or 14.3% of GDP. As we continue our response to this crisis, borrowing is forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility to be £234 billion this year, which is 10.3% of GDP. This means we are forecast to borrow more this year than during the financial crisis, an amount so large it has only one rival in recent history—last year. The Government need to balance this enormous support provided to the economy in the short term with the need to start to fix the public finances in the longer term. The Bill takes forward a number of measures to do this responsibly.

First, the income tax personal allowance will rise with the consumer prices index, as planned, to £12,570 from this month. This level will then be maintained until April 2026. The higher rate threshold also rises to £50,270 from this month and will then be maintained at this level until April 2026. These changes are a fair and progressive way to meet the fiscal challenge presented by the pandemic. For example, it is worth noting that the 20% highest-income households will contribute 15 times that of the 20% lowest-income households.

Secondly, the inheritance tax thresholds, the pensions lifetime allowance and the annual exempt amount in capital gains tax will be maintained at their 2020-21 levels until April 2026. Maintaining the pensions lifetime allowance at current levels affects only those with the largest pensions—those worth more than £1 million.

Thirdly, the Bill legislates for the rate of corporation tax paid on company profits to increase to 25% from 2023. Businesses have been provided with over £100 billion of support to get through this pandemic, so it is only fair to ask them to contribute to the overall recovery. Of course, since corporation tax is charged only on company profits, businesses that may be struggling will, by definition, be unaffected. The increase will not take effect until two years’ time, well after the point when the OBR expects the economy to have recovered. This measure protects small businesses with profits of £50,000 or less by including a small profits rate, maintained at the current rate of 19%. The effect of this is that 70% of companies, or 1.4 million businesses, will not see an increase in their tax rate.

The third goal of the Budget was to lay the foundations of our future economy as we emerge from the pandemic. This requires that the Government encourage business investment now, to help spur growth and drive productivity in the coming years. That is why the Bill contains the innovative new super-deduction measure. In most cases, this measure will allow companies to reduce their taxable profits by 130% of the cost of investment they make, equivalent to a tax cut of up to 25p for every pound they invest. It is expected to lift the net present value of the UK’s plant and machinery allowances from 30th among the countries of the OECD to first. This will bring forward investment; the OBR has said that, at its peak in the financial year 2022-23, the super-deduction will incentivise an additional £20 billion of business investment.

The Bill also contains clauses that will enable the creation of free-port tax sites. In these sites, businesses will be able to benefit from a number of tax reliefs, including a stamp duty land tax relief, an enhanced structures and buildings allowance and an enhanced capital allowance for plant and machinery. This tax offer will be combined with simpler import procedures and duty benefits in customs sites to help businesses trade, along with planning changes to give a green light to much-needed development and spending to invest in infrastructure. This comprehensive package will allow free ports to play a significant role in boosting trade, attracting inward investment and driving productive activity.

I have talked about how this legislation delivers on the core objectives of the Chancellor’s Budget. However, as might be expected in the annual Finance Bill, it also takes forward a number of other measures to progress the Government’s long-term aims to ensure a flexible, resilient and fair tax system. As part of the United Kingdom’s commitment to be a global leader on tax transparency, the Bill allows for the implementation of OECD reporting rules for digital platforms. This will help taxpayers in the sharing and gig economies get their tax right and help HMRC detect and tackle non-compliance. It will enable the extension of Making Tax Digital requirements to smaller VAT businesses from April next year, building on the successful introduction of Making Tax Digital for VAT businesses.

It implements reforms to the penalty regime for VAT and income tax self-assessment to make it fairer and more consistent, and harmonises interest for VAT and income tax. It tackles promoters of tax avoidance through strengthening existing anti-avoidance regimes and tightening rules. Importantly, it introduces an exemption from income tax for financial support payments for potential victims of modern slavery and human trafficking made by the UK Government and devolved Administrations.

I turn to how the Bill helps us deliver the important commitments the Government have made on the environment and carbon reduction. The new plastic packaging tax will encourage the use of recycled plastic instead of new plastic in packaging. For plastic packaging that contains less than 30% recycled plastic content, the rate of the tax will be £200 per tonne. This will transform the economics of sustainable packaging. To help tackle climate change and improve the UK’s air quality, the Bill reforms the entitlement to use red diesel from April next year. This will help ensure that the tax system incentivises users of polluting fuels such as diesel to invest in cleaner vehicles and machinery, or just to use less fuel.

To conclude, the coronavirus pandemic has presented an immense challenge to this country and delivered a dramatic shock to our economy. The Government have met that shock with a determined and sustained response, but the work is not yet done. This Finance Bill continues to support the lives and livelihoods of families and businesses. As we emerge from the pandemic, it will set the ground for an investment-led recovery and for strong public finances in the coming years. The Bill delivers a number of measures for a fairer and more sustainable tax system in support of the work needed to tackle climate change. For these reasons, I commend it to the House.

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness Finlay of Llandaff) (CB)]

My Lords, I remind all in the Chamber that we are expected to be masked when seated.