Economic Growth

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord for eventually getting to his question, but I am sorry that he chose to talk down the economy in the way that he did. I remind him that, when this Government took office, the UK was ranked seventh out of seven G7 economies projected for 2025. We currently have the fastest-growing economy in the G7. He talked about a report; let me give him another report. When the IMF last week upgraded the UK’s growth forecasts, it said that the Government’s fiscal strategy was striking a good balance between supporting growth and safeguarding fiscal sustainability, that the growth mission focuses on the right areas to lift productivity, and that our spending plans are credible and growth-friendly—spending plans that his party opposes. His party has opposed every single measure that we have taken to grow the economy.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that earlier this afternoon I had the great pleasure of being in the Peers’ Gallery to hear a brilliant speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which was followed by an awful diatribe from Mr Stride, or “Baby Steps” as he is now called? Does the Minister agree that he was not just talking down the economy like the noble Lord, Lord Booth; he was talking down Britain?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I very much agree with my noble friend on every word that he said. The spending review that we saw this afternoon from the Chancellor set out capital spending that increases growth by 1.4% in the long term. Every single penny of that capital spending has been opposed by the party opposite. The spending review set out a housing settlement—the biggest investment in a generation. It set out record levels of R&D spending, the biggest ever transport settlement, and a record commitment to skills investment. Every single penny of that spending was opposed by the party opposite. It can talk down Britain, but it opposes every single measure this Government are taking to increase growth in the economy.

Winter Fuel Payment

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his question. I am sorry that he does not share the consensus in the House on the new policy position. He is absolutely right in his characterisation of the policy. I do not know what he earns, so it is not right for me to comment on that, but if he earns above the £35,000 threshold, it will be recovered through the tax system. He describes it as an extremely generous means test. It is kind of him to say that, but it is in line with average earnings and we have decided that that is the appropriate level it should be paid at.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as co-chair of the all-party group on older persons. Is the Minister aware that Age UK, which really understands this issue and campaigned on it, welcomes unreservedly the Government’s decision—unlike the Conservatives, who say that they welcome the decision but would not find the money to pay for it? [Interruption.] That is exactly what the noble Baroness said. Will the Minister use his undoubted talents and tell them how they can reconcile that difference?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for his question. I pay tribute to him and to Age UK for the campaigning work they have done, not least to increase pension credit uptake. There was a record increase this year in the take-up of pension credit. An additional 60,000 people are now claiming pension credit, which is incredibly welcome.

We have listened to the concerns raised by Age UK, among others, about the level of the means test. We have now acted to ensure that, although we are still means testing the payment, we are raising the threshold to extend eligibility, so that this winter, more pensioners will be able to benefit from it. Nine million pensioners will now receive it—more than three-quarters of pensioners in total.

My noble friend is absolutely right about the party opposite: they are more than happy to spend the money, but they are less keen on raising it.

UK-US Trade

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Monday 12th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I will offer up that I agree that that would be a matter of opinion.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, is the Minister, like me, fed up with the moaning coming from the Opposition? Does she agree that they had 14 years and did not negotiate any trade deal with the United States, so they are the last people who should be critical?

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I would be very delicate about suggesting such a thing, but one of the things that we do really well within this nation is that, whichever side of the House we are sitting on, we all want to see the opportunity to trade and understand the value that it contributes to the UK economy. I think we can all agree that this is a really powerful first step that supports the great nation that we all operate within.

Inheritance Tax: Impact on Rural Businesses

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble and learned Baroness for her question. As I say, individuals will benefit from 100% relief for the first £1 million of combined business and agricultural assets, but that £1 million sits on top of the existing reliefs and all other spousal exemptions and nil-rate bands. Full exemptions for transfers between spouses and civil partners will continue to apply; therefore a couple with agricultural or business assets can typically pass on up to £3 million-worth of assets without paying any inheritance tax at all. That is considerably more generous than in any other part of the tax system.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, did my noble friend notice that, when the farmers blocked Whitehall with their tractors—sparkling, new, expensive tractors—they did not look very poor? Has he noticed that, when the Tories talk about tax, they always want to make the rich even richer?

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

They do. Will my noble friend confirm that, when poor people get tax deductions, they spend money on food and other essentials, and that helps growth?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

It is incredibly important that the decisions we take make the tax system fairer and more sustainable, and I believe that is absolutely what we are doing. Despite a very tough fiscal context, we are maintaining considerably more generous reliefs in this sector than exist anywhere else in the tax system.

Strategic Priorities Statement: Defence

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Tuesday 25th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I can absolutely confirm that all National Wealth Fund spending will be within the fiscal rules.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, is the Minister perplexed, like me, by the negativity coming from the Benches opposite? As well as many tens of billions of pounds in the National Wealth Fund, our Government have given billions to infected blood compensation, and next month we will get the triple lock on pensions. Those are three tremendous steps forward. Can the Minister urge the Chancellor to be just a little more upbeat tomorrow?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I will absolutely pass that on to the Chancellor.

Independent School Fees: VAT

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her question. Of course, I will join her in congratulating Jakob. As she knows far better than I do, the Music and Dance Scheme provides grants and help with fees at eight schools and 20 centres for advanced training. The Department for Education has decided to adjust its Music and Dance Scheme bursary contribution for families with a relevant income below £45,000 a year to account for the VAT that will be applied to fees, ensuring that the total parental fee contribution for families with below-average relevant incomes remains unchanged for the rest of this academic year.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords—

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords—

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

The Tories have had a say.

[Lord Addington (LD)]

I am not a Tory, thank you. I remind the House of my declared interests in this field. Special educational needs is one of the big sectors where the private system has been used by the state system to reinforce its own effectiveness. You get support only if you have an EHC plan. These are agreed by everybody as being extremely expensive and difficult to implement. Why are the Government giving support only to those with special educational needs who ask for such plans to be imposed on the state system and encouraging people who do not have them in the private sector to take them out?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

The policy remains as it was. It will not impact pupils with the most acute additional needs. Where pupils’ places in private schools are funded by local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales because their needs can be met only in a private school, local authorities will be able to reclaim that VAT. In terms of those without one of those systems in place, on average, the Government expect private school fees to increase by around 10% as a result of this measure.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, I am not a Tory either. Does my noble friend the Minister agree that the scare stories coming from opposite, like many of their scare stories, have been proven to be wrong? The Press Association’s review of schools has shown that there has not been a major transfer from the private sector to the public sector. In fact, in the public sector in England, more pupils have got their first choice of school this year than last year. The private schools that are closing are doing so for reasons other than the increase in fees. The noble Lord, Lord Lexden, is shaking his head, but he is wrong.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

As always, I agree with everything that my noble friend says. All the comments that we have heard to date about the Government’s assessments being incorrect have been proven to be wrong. On the number of pupils who would move from one sector to another, that is absolutely in line with what the Government’s assessment said. On the amount of VAT that would pass through to the fees that parents pay, that is absolutely in line with what the Government said. On the number of schools that would close, that is absolutely in line with what the Government said. As my noble friend said, many councils now say that there has been no obvious impact from the addition of VAT on private school fees, and more pupils are receiving their first choice of school than they did last year.

UK Border Strategy: Single Trade Window

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Tuesday 25th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

There are costs from designing, developing and administering the technical delivery platform, which have been clearly set out by Deloitte, with support from IBM. We have retained the technical platform in order to retain the option for a future restart of the project. This would allow us to capitalise on the previous investment and could enable a simpler and faster restart of development activity in the future. As I say, we will update the House at the next spending review.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, returning to the initial Answer, could the Minister remind the House of the challenging fiscal deficit that we inherited?

Covid Counter-Fraud Commissioner

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Wednesday 5th February 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

To ask His Majesty’s Government when they expect to receive a report from the Covid Counter-Fraud Commissioner.

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Livermore) (Lab)]

My Lords, Tom Hayhoe has been appointed Covid Counter-Fraud Commissioner. He will use every means possible to recover public money lost in pandemic-related fraud and ensure that that money is returned to public services. At the end of this year, the commissioner will provide a report, which will be presented to Parliament, outlining his findings on PPE procurement and other areas of Covid fraud, as well as identifying lessons and recommendations for government procurement in the face of future crises.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for that, but there seems to be some confusion about whether, after his all too short 12 months, the commissioner should report to Parliament on lessons to be learned for future pandemics, or whether he should report according to his job description: regularly, to the public and Parliament, about how much of the £8 billion—not just from Michelle Mone and the VIP lane but many others—has been recovered. Can we have an assurance that the public and Parliament will be told regularly how much of that money has been recovered?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for his question, and he is absolutely right. We promised that we would act on the fraud and waste that took place during the Covid pandemic. Let us remember that billions of pounds were handed out to friends and donors of the Conservative Party, including a £40 million contract awarded to the then Health Secretary’s local pub landlord. Billions more were defrauded from the taxpayer, and more than £1 billion was spent on PPE that either did not arrive or was not fit for purpose.

On entering government, we found £674 million of contracts in dispute, but we inherited a recommendation from the previous Government that any attempt to reclaim that money should be abandoned. That is unacceptable. The Chancellor has instead put a block on any contract being abandoned or waived until it has been independently reviewed by the commissioner, and she will absolutely ensure that regular reports are given to Parliament, as my noble friend asks, on the progress of that work.

Public Finances: Borrowing Costs

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I repeat to the noble Lord what I said in my opening remarks. Financial markets are always evolving, so it is a long-standing convention that the Government do not comment on specific financial market movements. I will not break that convention today. Financial market movements, including changes in government bond or gilt yields, which represent the Government’s borrowing costs, are determined by a wide range of international and domestic factors.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, the Minister quite rightly said that the Opposition, when in government, had been irresponsible in their economic policies, but does he not agree that their unfair and unjustified criticism of this Government is equally irresponsible and unhelpful?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am happy to agree with my noble friend that any criticism of this Government is unhelpful.

United Kingdom Declining Birth Rate

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Wednesday 6th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, on the birth rate, does the Minister agree that, although there are dozens of reasons for us to criticize him, this is one area in which we can be grateful to Boris Johnson?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I sympathise with my noble friend’s point, but I find it hard to sympathise with that man on anything.