Income Tax

Debate between Lord Newby and Lord Wood of Anfield

Wednesday 19th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wood of Anfield]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the level of income tax receipts so far this financial year.

[Lord Newby (LD)]

My Lords, the Office for National Statistics’ latest estimate for income tax and capital gains tax for the period April to September 2014 is £71.5 billion.

[Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for that precise answer. As today’s alarming ONS figures confirm, this Government are presiding over a recovery in which wages, far from recovering, have continued to deteriorate. As a result, the public finances are getting worse and social security spending targets are being missed by over £15 billion. The deficit continues to rise. Will the Minister tell us why this is the case, and say whether he agrees that in the light of this, the Prime Minister’s promise in October of further unfunded tax cuts lies somewhere between heroic and reckless?

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, I remind the noble Lord, and the House, that growth in the UK is the highest among the G7 countries; that unemployment has fallen by 324,000 in the past year; and that the other piece of news today, which he omitted to mention, is that the gender pay gap has fallen to an all-time low.

Economy: House Prices

Debate between Lord Newby and Lord Wood of Anfield

Thursday 3rd July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wood of Anfield]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increases in house prices on the strength of the United Kingdom economy.

[Lord Newby (LD)]

My Lords, the housing market is recovering alongside the rest of the economy. As in previous recoveries, house prices have risen but, with the exception of London, remain below their pre-crisis peak in real terms. As a result of increased confidence in the housing market, planning approvals and housing starts are now at their highest for six years. With the creation of the Financial Policy Committee we now have the tools to guard against risks in the housing market.

[Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)]

My Lords, the list of those expressing serious concern about the impact of the UK housing market now includes the IMF, the European Commission, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Bank of England, Vince Cable, the Deputy Prime Minister and the entire economics profession. However, in a week where new figures showed house prices in the UK rising by 10% and by nearly three times that figure in London, a leaked document from the Department for Communities and Local Government showed that the Government are, astonishingly, expecting new housing starts to fall by 4% this year. Can the Minister explain why government housing policy seems to be based on a mixture of denial, bad economics and passing of the buck? What is their plan to do something about the UK’s chronic shortage of housing?

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, I remind the noble Lord that in Q1 2009 there were 17,000 housing starts and in Q1 2014 there were 36,000. There has been a major crash in the housebuilding sector. This is now being corrected with housing starts and planning permissions being significantly greater—typically around 30% more—than a year ago. I also remind the noble Lord that while we have had a rapidly rising population in the UK, for decades housing starts have been 200,000 fewer than in France, for example, where the population has not been rising in the same way. There is a chronic problem in housing. We are beginning to tackle it by programmes that support people buying their own home, liberalising planning and providing support for small to medium-sized housebuilders. This is not going to be an easy fix for a Government of any colour.