Spring Statement

Lord Scriven Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

It is right to focus on inward investment. That is a very important aspect of our growth strategy. On corporation tax, we have set out clearly that we will cap it for the duration of this Parliament. If there is a competitive threat then we will act. That contrasts with the previous Government, under whom corporation tax rose and fell constantly, which did not give businesses the stability that they need. Inward investors tell us that planning is the number one barrier to bringing money into this country—it gets tied up in planning for years, with horror stories of planning applications lasting 13 years or more. Our planning reforms are vitally important, as they will raise skills to create that skilled workforce. The number one thing inward investors are looking for is stability. I genuinely believe that the Budget last October, in wiping the slate clean and repairing the public finances, provided an incredibly important platform of stability to allow such investment to take place.

[Lord Scriven (LD)]

The Minister believes in compassion and fairness. A couple in a non-disabled house receiving universal credit will be £370 a year better off with the reforms announced yesterday, but a couple on universal credit, where one is disabled and the other is a full-time carer, will lose £10,300 a year due to changes to PIP and the carer element of universal credit. How is this compassionate and fair?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

The noble Lord asks me what is compassionate and fair. I do not believe that one in eight young people not in employment, education or training is compassionate or fair. I do not believe that writing off an entire generation is compassionate or fair. I do not believe that 1,000 people coming into PIP every day is compassionate or fair. Is the noble Lord saying that we do not need any reform to our welfare system? I just do not believe that that is the case.