Economy: Budget Statement

Debate between Lord Sassoon and Lord Haskel

Thursday 22nd March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, the simple fact is that if you talk to businesses around the world about why they are not moving business into this country and are not moving high-earning individuals back to this country, you will find that it is simply because of the disincentive effect of the 50p tax rate. It is entirely consistent that there is a disincentive effect on business decisions, even though the net take is nothing. I listened to what the real businesspeople in this House—the noble Lord, Lord Bilimoria, and my noble friend Lord Fink—said about the damaging effect of high rates of tax. Their voices present the true position.

[Lord Haskel]

We have some real businesspeople on this side of the House as well.

[Lord Sassoon]

Indeed, there are distinguished businesspeople, including the noble Lord, Lord Haskel, on the other Benches, but I do not think that the noble Lord, Lord Haskel, made this particular point. He made other points which, if I do not have more interruptions, I might be able to turn to. There is also the noble Lord, Lord Sugar. I shall refer to as many speakers as I can, if noble Lords want to hear me rather than make additional points themselves.

My noble friends Lady Randerson and Lady Kramer importantly referred to the significance of our new anti-avoidance regime, particularly in relation to homes with a value of more than £2 million. Some issues have been raised on the measures that will claw back five times the amount of the cost of a 5p drop in the top rate of tax. My noble friend Lord Fink, and the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Stamford, in particular, raised the question of the capping of tax reliefs and the effect on philanthropists and charities. The Government will explore with philanthropists ways to ensure that the new limit will not significantly impact on charities that depend on large donations. It is an important restriction, but we will make sure that charities are protected.

On other areas of tax and tax avoidance, the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Stamford, asked about the general anti-avoidance rule. Under the new structure, a pre-clearance system will no longer be warranted. GAAR’s focus will be on artificial and abusive tax avoidance schemes. We will have a completely different construct from the present one, and it is not proposed that there should be a clearance system.

A certain amount was said in different ways on the question of distributional impact by the noble Lords, Lord Liddle and Lord Myners, the noble Viscount, Lord Hanworth, and others. Again, since the Government came to power, we have in the Red Book done the transparent thing and made it absolutely clear what the distributional effect is of Budget after Budget—something that the previous Government never did. I set out the figures in my opening speech. In cash terms, losses for the households in the top 10 per cent will be almost five times the average, and more than eight times those of the bottom 10 per cent by income. We have real and deep concern for the distributional effects of our tax and spending policies.

My noble friend Lord Northbrook, and the noble Lord, Lord McFall of Alcluith, asked about the lowering of the starting point of the 40p band. There is nothing untoward about this; it is simply a partial offset of the effect of the increase in the personal allowance, so that higher-rate taxpayers will receive only a partial benefit rather than the full one, which is targeted principally and rightly at lower earners.

Banking: Liability.

Debate between Lord Sassoon and Lord Haskel

Tuesday 7th December 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Haskel]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the report published on 2 December by the Financial Services Authority regarding the Royal Bank of Scotland finalises the matter of liability.

[The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon)]

My Lords, on 2 December the Financial Services Authority closed a supervisory investigation into the Royal Bank of Scotland group. The review confirmed that RBS had made a series of bad decisions in the years leading up to the financial crisis, but concluded that enforcement action was not warranted.

[Lord Haskel]

I thank the Minister for that reply. Is he aware that this report fails to respond to the widespread concerns expressed by many people, some of them on his own Benches, that the report deals with the letter, but not the spirit, of the law? Will he tell us how the restructured FSA under the remit of the Bank of England will function more appropriately and take this into account?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, we do not know what the report says because we have not seen it. We cannot say what the report deals with, but it is clear that it concludes that enforcement action is not warranted in this case. The FSA cannot publish the content of the RBS review because information gathered from the bank during the course of the review contains confidential material. The report remains confidential under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. I am grateful to the noble Lord for drawing attention to the fact that we are embarked on a process completely to redraw the financial regulatory architecture. I expect that under the new architecture, the new prudential regulatory authority will be able to exercise powers under the tools we give it to minimise the risk of another case like RBS coming up in future.

Public Expenditure: Value for Money

Debate between Lord Sassoon and Lord Haskel

Tuesday 26th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Haskel]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they assess value for money when allocating public expenditure.

[The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon)]

My Lords, value for money is a key consideration when allocating public expenditure. The spending review has prioritised growth and fairness, underpinned by radical reform of public services. Departments were asked to prioritise spend against tough value-for-money criteria set out in the spending framework and the economic value of all capital projects was considered. In addition, public ideas were sought on how to make savings and deliver more for less.

[Lord Haskel]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that rather narrow accountant’s view of value for money. What prompted this Question was when the Prime Minister said recently that there was more to life than money. He said it in the context of the extra value that we get from sport, the arts and having a roof over our heads.

[Lord Haskel]

The question is coming. The Prime Minister said it in the context of the extra value that we get from sport, the arts and social capital. My question is: will the Minister say how these non-monetary values are taken into account when assessing value for money?

[Lord Sassoon]

My Lords, questions about value for money are asked in the context of a wide range of other factors that are all set out in the Government’s Green Book, which is a 100-page document that has been used for 20 years or so. It has become a model of its kind around the world, and sets out value for money in the context of the complete range of factors that have to be considered.

Banking Reform

Debate between Lord Sassoon and Lord Haskel

Thursday 17th June 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Newby for pointing out, very helpfully, how the Government’s programme in this area has taken account of some of his concerns from before the election. On the transition, it might be helpful if I additionally confirm that the FSA will remain the financial services regulator until the legislation is implemented, so it is quite clear who will be doing what. I am grateful to my noble friend for stressing the management arrangements and I will relay to both the Bank and the FSA his concern that they do what is of course a high priority—to make sure that they retain the essential and extremely good staff they have in both organisations.

[Lord Haskel]

I thank the Minister for telling us about the regulation of debt and banking, and about taking care of the consumer at the Bank of England. Who will take care of inflation? Will it just be the poor relation, somewhere between the Bank of England and the Monetary Policy Committee, or will it be somebody’s special responsibility?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Sassoon]

I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Trenchard for his warm words. He mentions the question of too many powers under the old regime. I stress that I think it is more a question of the mindset and the regulatory approach rather than the powers themselves; it is the whole approach to regulation that needs to be changed. He raises the important question of whether we are creating too many bodies. I shall try to reassure him on that; indeed, the landscape is being simplified. Although the PRA will be a subsidiary of the Bank of England, it will be fully embedded in the bank structure. In that sense, I do not see that as the creation of a new body. My noble friend draws attention to the CFEB, which was created as a self-standing body but will now come under the auspices of the CPMA. We are creating a much simpler and more efficient structure in the landscape that should not create any additional difficulties.

My noble friend asks about the remit of the CPMA. Although its principal remit will be to ensure that the conduct of business is properly regulated across all markets, the question of secondary responsibilities, which could become primary responsibilities, including the competitiveness of markets, needs to be considered during the consultation process.

[Lord Haskel]

My Lords, the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard, reminded me that I too served on the Joint Committee for the Financial Services Act, under the chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Burns. I remember that we imposed a duty on the FSA to educate the public about financial matters and financial regulations; indeed, we ring-fenced money so that that could be done. Will all this remain in place?

[Lord Sassoon]

I ask the noble Lord, Lord Haskel, to be patient with us and, as we get into the detailed design, to see how we deal with all these matters. I take his point that this is another thing that needs to be addressed in the detail of the proposals.