Asked by: Lord McAvoy (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the minutes and papers of the last seven meetings of the Joint Exchequer Committee.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The UK and Scottish governments publish a joint communique after each meeting of the Joint Exchequer Committee, it outlines what was discussed at the meeting. The negotiations are ongoing and require a private space in which discussions can make progress.
The UK government has no plans to publish any further minutes or papers from the Joint Exchequer Committee.
Asked by: Lord McAvoy (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Joint Exchequer Committee's negotiations will conclude, and when the fiscal framework will be published.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
Whilst there is no set date for the Joint Exchequer Committee to conclude negotiations on the fiscal framework, the UK government is doing everything it can to achieve an agreement.
The Business Managers and usual channels have agreed to move the final day in Committee on the Scotland Bill to Monday 22 February to allow more time for negotiations between the Scottish and UK Governments to progress.
The UK government is working towards a deal that is fair for Scotland, fair for the UK and meets all of the principles of the Smith Commission Agreement.
The fiscal framework document will be published shortly after it is agreed.
Asked by: Lord McAvoy (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the report by the London School of Economics and the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex on changes to benefits, income tax and income distribution.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The distributional analysis published alongside Autumn Statement 2014, and at every fiscal event since the government came into office, represents the most complete, rigorous and detailed record of the impact of this government’s policies on households. Unlike other analyses, it looks not only at the effect of direct tax and welfare decisions, but also the impact of changes to indirect tax (such as the freeze to fuel duty) and changes to spending on public services.
This analysis clearly shows that the richest households have made the largest contribution towards reducing the deficit. In fact, by 2015-16 the net cash contribution to reducing the deficit of the richest 20 per cent will be larger than the net contribution of the remaining 80 per cent put together.