Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Tuesday 5th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I cannot give my hon. Friend a clear answer on a specific date, but soon as we are in a position to publish the tariff schedule, we will do so.

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

Personal debt is now higher than it has ever been in British history. Household debt is now also higher than it has ever been and has increased by nearly £1,000 in the past year alone. How sustainable is that?

[John Glen]

That is why the Government are concerned that the establishment of a single financial guidance body should happen quickly this year. Some £56 million is spent on debt advice to 530,000 people. This is an area I take very seriously, and I will be going to the credit union conference on Saturday to outline some more policy initiatives.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Tuesday 6th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Robert Jenrick]

Yes. We are ending the scandal of PFI that was created by the last Labour Government. Eighty-six per cent. of PFI contracts were signed by the last Labour Government—91% by value. In addition to retiring PFI we are creating a crack team, beginning in the Department of Health and Social Care, to look back at some of those old contracts and to clean out the stable left by the last Labour Government.

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

This Government and their coalition predecessors have overseen the longest slump in wages in living memory. What effect has that had on productivity?

[Robert Jenrick]

The hon. Gentleman may not be aware of this, but real wages are rising. The Government believe that the best way to support working people across the country is to get them into work. Employment is now at its highest level in my lifetime, with 3 million more jobs created and 1 million fewer people on the dole.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (John Glen)]

Lenders are not restricted from extending mortgages beyond the age of 75, as long as the consumer can demonstrate affordability. Several lenders are currently looking into this issue. There is considerable merit in interest-only retirement mortgages.

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

What action are the Government taking to tackle payroll and umbrella companies, some of which—not all—are used to perpetuate bogus self-employment and undermine terms and conditions?

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mel Stride)]

We are looking very closely at this policy area, not least in respect of the Matthew Taylor review of the different ways in which individuals choose to work. The Government’s overriding objective is to make sure that the way an individual works is reflected in the way they are taxed, and that they are taxed properly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Tuesday 17th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Simon Kirby]

I agree. The PMI surveys show significant resilience in the UK economy since the referendum. The Prime Minister recently made it clear that we will make a success of leaving the EU.

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

Given the Chief Secretary’s earlier comments about attempts to stimulate house building, can he guarantee that at the end of this Parliament the supply of rented homes will be larger than it was at the beginning?

[Mr Gauke]

We are likely to build more affordable homes in this Parliament than have been built since the 1970s.

European Union Referendum Bill

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Tuesday 16th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Lidington]

I will not give way, if the hon. Gentleman will forgive me. I have about eight or nine minutes, and I want to respond to the debate.

That ban would clearly cover printed material and some electronic communications, although it is fair to say that when PPERA was drafted we were not in an age of social media and interactive digital technology—Twitter, Facebook and other such accounts—and there is a serious question about what would be captured by the phrasing of section 125 as it stands.

Section 125 would be unworkable because the world and normal EU business will not stop for the referendum. Let me take the example of the very active public debate about migration, particularly at the moment from north Africa, but also about what is happening at Calais. It should be common ground that when we get to the referendum campaign, questions to do with migration, freedom of movement and the accessibility of welfare will form part of the debate. During the four weeks, section 125 would prevent the Government or any public body from making any comment not necessarily on the referendum question but on an issue that might be discussed in the Council of Ministers meeting or in response to a European Court of Justice judgment. The Government need to be free to respond in the national interest and to conduct ordinary day-to-day EU business, and that freedom would not be permitted if we left section 125 as it stands.

[John Cryer]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Jenkin]

Will my right hon. Friend give way?

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Tuesday 10th March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that question. As he will know, the LIBOR fines imposed on banks for the appalling rigging of LIBOR are being used for mainly military charities, and a few other ideas have been put forward. I shall bear his remarks in mind and mention them to the Chancellor.

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

Further to Question 8, what measures is the Chief Secretary taking to tackle the activities of payroll and umbrella companies that promote bogus self-employment which in turn fuels widespread tax evasion?

[Danny Alexander]

We have already announced measures to deal with intermediaries, both offshore and onshore. As the hon. Gentleman will know, a consultation on the issue is taking place at the moment, and it is important to ensure that companies cannot put in place artificial arrangements that are designed to reduce their tax bill and often have the consequence of removing important employment rights from workers. We continue to take that matter incredibly seriously.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

We are taking steps to reduce business taxes, when others would put them up. We are also taking steps to ensure that energy costs for manufacturers are lower; we set out a package in the Budget. Above all, we are creating a country in which people want to invest and create jobs because they have confidence in our long-term economic plan.

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

The number of tax compliance inspections of companies by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is falling, rather than rising. Why is that the case?

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

HMRC is increasingly successful in bringing in its yield. It has to develop the most effective ways of working, and if it can find more efficient ways of doing so, that is fine. The important point is that HMRC is bringing in more money than it has ever done before.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Tuesday 29th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the low interest rates put in place by the independent Bank of England have made life more difficult for savers, although, of course, the growing economy is good news for savers as well as borrowers. My hon. Friend has warmly supported what we have done in the Budget, not only to give people access to their pension pots but to introduce the new ISA. We have also introduced the new savings bond for pensioners, which will come into effect at the end of the year, with higher interest rates to help those in his constituency who have worked hard and saved hard.

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

Real wages have fallen by £1,600 since the election, so will the Chancellor now answer the question repeatedly asked by Opposition Members: will wages in real terms be higher or lower at the next election than they were at the last election?

[Mr Osborne]

Britain is better off because we are rescuing this country from the economic mess in which the Opposition left us. There is a complete fantasy in the Labour party, demonstrated again in the past hour, that one can have an economic policy that destroys the banks, destroys business and destroys the public finances but somehow helps the people of the country in the process. As we learned to our cost under the previous Labour Government, that is not the case. They wrecked the economy and we are recovering it.

HMRC Inquiry Centre Closures

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Tuesday 4th March 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mr Gauke]

They are the result of research undertaken by HMRC. Matters can often be resolved over the telephone rather than in a face-to-face meeting. The hon. Gentleman rightly highlighted a case in which an 85-year-old gentleman caught two buses to attend an inquiry centre. If it is possible to drive that service more easily over the telephone, so be it, but there are circumstances in which a face-to-face meeting will be appropriate, so that will be provided.

HMRC’s research has highlighted that up to 1.5 million customers need extra help with their tax and benefits affairs. Many of them need help only for a specific event in their lives, such as when they approach retirement. Others may have low literacy skills, or a mental health condition may make it difficult for them to cope with their affairs. The new, more accessible service will be tailored to the needs of customers who require extra help. Specialist help will be provided over the telephone by extra support advisers who have the time, skills, knowledge and empathy to handle customers’ inquiries at a pace that suits them, and who can identify when a customer needs extra help. If a customer’s query cannot be dealt with over the phone, they can arrange a face-to-face meeting with a team of mobile advisers based across the United Kingdom. Such meetings can be arranged at a time and place convenient to the customer, and extra help will be delivered through HMRC’s voluntary and community sector partners who have been provided with extra funding so that they can support more customers and refer them directly to the new service.

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

The Minister says that the service will be more accessible, but can he guarantee that? More than 280 offices will be closed. It is very difficult for the ordinary man and woman in the street to see how the service will be more accessible than it is now. I am sure that he will use the phrase, “Taking the service to the people, rather than people coming to bricks and mortar.” The advantage of bricks and mortar is that it cannot be closed down or moved. Services that go into the community can disappear: lorries, vans or whatever vehicles are used for mobile services can disappear.

[Mr Gauke]

The point I was making is that, yes, 281 inquiry centres are being closed, but there will be something like 350 venues that will be used for face-to-face meetings under the new regime. HMRC fully acknowledges that there is a need to deal with those people who require enhanced support and face-to-face meetings. It has been clear about that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Cryer Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

The economy has grown by 2.8 % over the past four quarters, which is the point. First, when the shadow Chancellor was in office, he predicted that there would be no more boom and bust—we had the biggest boom and the biggest bust—and secondly, he predicted that there would be no recovery unless we borrowed and spent our way into economic risk, which has turned out to be untrue. I do not know why anybody in the Labour party still listens to his predictions at all.

[John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

rose—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Mr Cryer will be heard. The House should hear him. His constituents should hear him. It is really just a matter of courtesy.

[John Cryer]

The Liberal Minister used to be a loyal servant of Britain in Europe. Does he still agree with its founding principles?

[Danny Alexander]

I still very much take the view that Britain is better and stronger as a full member of the European Union and that membership of the European Union is vital for our trade and for 3.5 million jobs in this country, which is why I will resist any attempts to take Britain out of the European Union.