Tobacco: Illicit Trade
Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Lord Young of Cookham
Lord Ashton of Hyde
My Lords, it is not the tobacco industry’s duty to prevent smuggling. It can help the Government, but it is HMRC and Border Force which are there to control smuggling.
Lord Young of Cookham (Con)
My Lords, can my noble friend confirm that it is the Government’s intention to ratify the WHO protocol on the illicit trade in tobacco?
Lord Ashton of Hyde
Yes, my Lords, the Government wish to ratify the protocol as soon as they can. They continue to work towards ratification of the protocol, although many measures are already in place—for example, a register of tobacco manufacturers. They have recently consulted on the requirements of Article 6 of the protocol on the mandatory licensing of tobacco machinery and the possible licensing of the supply chain.
Help to Save Scheme
Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Lord Young of Cookham
Lord Young of Cookham
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following their announcement concerning the Help to Save scheme, how many people in work and receiving either Working Tax Credit or Universal Credit are expected to benefit from that scheme.
Lord Ashton of Hyde (Con)
My Lords, 3.5 million people on the lowest incomes will be eligible to open a Help to Save account when the scheme is launched, which will be no later than April 2018.
Lord Young of Cookham (Con)
I am grateful to my noble friend for that reply. As nearly half the adult population have savings of less than £500, it is clearly sensible to have a scheme like this to encourage them to put money on one side for a rainy day. As by definition these savers are on low incomes, can my noble friend give an assurance that these accounts will be easy to access and accessible without penalty?
Lord Ashton of Hyde
My noble friend is correct. This is designed specifically for those on low incomes. In fact, we think that 95% of the eligible population from households will have total incomes of less than £30,000. The idea is that people will be able to withdraw at any time without penalty to cover urgent costs. The Government will consult shortly on how exactly the bonus should work. We want to avoid disincentivising people from making withdrawals when they need to. The whole point is to get households saving a bit so that they can cope with unexpected shocks.