Environment: Green Growth

Debate between Earl of Caithness and Lord Sassoon

Wednesday 16th May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, I can indeed confirm that that is not the policy of Her Majesty’s Government.

[The Earl of Caithness]

Would my noble friend also bear in mind, in response to the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Davies, that what the noble Lord proposed about greenness and efficiency would hurt hardest those in the country who do not have cavity walls but have solid brick or stone houses and no access to mains gas? It would penalise those in the country. That again shows that the Labour Party is very anti those living in the countryside rather than those living in urban areas.

[Lord Sassoon]

Apart from the fact that taking away people’s capital gains tax relief by linking it to green efficiency is absolutely not on the agenda, the key point here is that the forthcoming Green Deal—a world-first policy proposal—will mean that many people will be able to make their homes warmer and more efficient. That is what really matters. Of course we want to see more efficient homes, but there are ways to do that, and the Government have a policy.

Scotland Bill

Debate between Earl of Caithness and Lord Sassoon

Wednesday 28th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Caithness]

My noble friend said that what the noble Lord, Lord Browne of Ladyton, had proposed in his amendment was self-evident. For many of us who live north of the border, what we consider to be self-evident is not what the Scottish Executive would consider to be self-evident. This causes huge concern, of which I am not certain that my noble friend is aware. We are very sceptical of what is happening north of the border. What to us might be self-evident, and what might be in a report produced by a UK Government under Amendment 29, still does not bind the Scottish Executive.

I ask my noble friend to reconsider the last point made by the noble Lord, Lord Browne of Ladyton. This will be subject to a legislative consent Motion, and if we can tie the Scottish Executive in under that, we will be happier.

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, I hope I can reassure my noble friend that that is exactly what will happen under Amendment 29, because that will require both Governments to provide updates to their respective Parliaments on the implementation of the Bill. If we are not able to give a report that confirms that the criteria envisaged under the Command Paper are accepted by both Governments, that will become clear when we see the first report after the passing of this Bill.

Scotland Bill

Debate between Earl of Caithness and Lord Sassoon

Thursday 15th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Caithness]

My Lords, can my noble friend give us an example of the two-way process? If he cannot do so now, perhaps he can include it in the letter that he is going to send us.

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, one example is personal allowances, which have a potential impact on tax receipts, and that example is highlighted in the command document.

Banking Reform

Debate between Earl of Caithness and Lord Sassoon

Thursday 17th June 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

I am grateful to my noble friend Lady Noakes for letting me off from answering her first observation, but I take the point. There are others better equipped than I to know what will be the appropriate way to take this particular legislation through. On the financial stability committee, that was of course introduced by the previous Government as part of their sticking-plaster job, trying to put together something out of the wreckage of the tripartite system. That will fall away when the new structure gets into place. As I have already stressed, the financial policy committee will be up and running in shadow form. It is also important to note that through the transitional period, the Chancellor, the Governor of the Bank of England and the chairman of the FSA will need to be in close discussion regularly. Concerning the UKLA, the Treasury will be bringing forward proposals prior to the Summer Recess on its future, along with the significant number of other matters on which we will consult.

[The Earl of Caithness]

My Lords, this is my first opportunity to congratulate my noble friend on his appointment to the Front Bench. Whether or not his is a newly-minted position, it is still very good to see somebody in this House on the Treasury Bench. Does my noble friend agree that the current financial crisis started not with the bankers but with the banking system? All that the bankers have done is to use the banking system which was established by judicial review rather than by legislation. In order to combat debt and, as the Statement says,

“to get the best possible protection for consumers”,

can my noble friend update me on the current thinking of the Government about separating deposit and current accounts and returning ownership of a deposit to the depositor, rather than having it in the control of the bank?

[Lord Sassoon]

I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Caithness. This gives me an opportunity to pay tribute to him as, I think, my predecessor but one representing the Treasury on the Front Bench in this House—a job which he carried with distinction. He makes a very important point on the banking system, one on which we have not touched in detail this afternoon. It is fine and very important to have an appropriate regulatory system but we need to examine the structure of the banking system, something which the previous Government—for reasons that I genuinely fail to understand—did not want at all to look at. That is why we have, yesterday, established the banking commission. There will be many detailed and important points on which your Lordships will want to make direct representations to the commission; the structure of deposit and current accounting might will be one of them.