Scotland Bill

Baroness Primarolo Excerpts

Monday 14th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mark Lazarowicz]

For the sake of clarity, the point that I raised about the Scottish Government’s ability—

[The Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means (Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. I am sorry. I should have put the Question, because the amendment has already been debated in a previous group.

Amendment 63 agreed to.

Clause 29, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.



Schedule 4

Scottish tax on land transactions: consequential amendments

[Mr Gauke]

I beg to move amendment 33, page 33, line 33, after ‘buyers)’ insert—

( ) in subsection (2)(b) after “under the law of” insert “Scotland or”;

( ) ’.

[The Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means (Dawn Primarolo)]

With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments 34 to 36.

[Mr Gauke]

Schedule 4, which is introduced by clause 29, makes consequential provisions in connection with the disapplication of stamp duty land tax in Scotland, and is in two parts. Part 1 provides for general amendments to stamp duty land tax legislation in consequence of stamp duty land tax ceasing to apply in Scotland, and part 2 provides for the Scottish Government to supply information to HMRC regarding Scottish land tax.

Amendment 33 makes changes to the stamp duty land tax first-time buyers relief to ensure that a person who has previously bought a property in Scotland cannot qualify for relief when he or she subsequently purchases a property in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Amendment 34 omits a further reference to Scottish land law terminology.

Amendments 35 and 36 omit provisions in the Finance (No. 2) Act 2005 and the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000, which is an Act of the Scottish Parliament relating to functions of the keeper of the registers of Scotland. Those relate to the registers of Scotland’s automated registration of title to land system, which includes facilities for returns and payment of stamp duty land tax.

Lastly, amendment 36 makes detailed modifications to the provisions in the Finance Act 2009 in relation to alternative finance investment bonds or sukuk. Those modifications reflect the fact that the stamp duty land tax relief will no longer apply to sukuk in relation to land in Scotland, although the provisions for capital gains and capital allowances will continue to apply. Those changes are essential to the proper operation of stamp duty land tax after the tax is disapplied in Scotland.

Amendment 33 agreed to.

Amendments made: 34, page 35, line 36, at end insert—

‘( ) In paragraph 10 (tenants’ obligations etc that do not count as chargeable consideration), in sub-paragraph (1)(a) omit “(in Scotland, the leased premises)”.’.

Amendment 35, page 36, line 9, at end insert—

‘Finance (No. 2) Act 2005

In section 47 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2005 (e-conveyancing) omit—

(a) subsection (1);

(b) subsection (6)(b).’.

Amendment 36, page 36, line 12, at end insert—

‘Finance Act 2009

(1) Schedule 61 to the Finance Act 2009 (alternative finance investment bonds) is amended as follows.

(2) Paragraph 1 (interpretation) is amended as follows.

(3) In sub-paragraph (1)—

(a) before the definition of “HMRC” insert—

““effective date”, for a transaction relating to land in Scotland, is the date which would be the effective date (under section 119 of FA 2003) if Part 4 of FA 2003 applied to land in Scotland;”;

(b) omit the definition of “qualifying interest”.

(4) After sub-paragraph (1) insert—

(1A) In this Schedule “qualifying interest”—

(a) in relation to land in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, means a major interest in land (within the meaning given by section 117 of FA 2003) except that it does not include a lease for a term of years of 21 years or less;

(b) in relation to land in Scotland, means—

(i) the interest of an owner of land, or

(ii) the tenant’s right over or interest in a property subject to a lease,

except that it does not include a lease for a period of 21 years or less.”

(5) Paragraph 5 (conditions for operation of relief) is amended as follows.

(6) In sub-paragraph (6) (Condition D)—

(a) after “Condition D” insert “(which applies in the case of land in England and Wales or Northern Ireland)”;

(b) omit paragraph (b).

(7) In sub-paragraph (7) (charge or security for purposes of Condition D)—

(a) omit “or security”;

(b) in paragraph (a) omit “, or a security ranking first granted over,”.

(8) In paragraph 6(1)(a) (relief from stamp duty land tax) for “the United Kingdom” substitute “England and Wales or Northern Ireland”.

(9) In paragraph 7 (withdrawal of relief in certain circumstances)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (1) after “This paragraph applies if” insert “paragraph 6 applies but”;

(b) in sub-paragraph (2) after “This paragraph also applies if” insert “paragraph 6 applies but”.

(10) In paragraph 9 (discharge of charge when conditions for relief met) omit “or security”.

(11) In paragraph 11(2) (disapplication of CGT relief if charge not given) for “the United Kingdom” substitute “England and Wales or Northern Ireland”.

(12) In paragraph 12(1)(b) (CGT relief on second transaction) for “the United Kingdom” substitute “England and Wales or Northern Ireland”.

(13) In paragraph 18(5) and (6) (discharge of charge if original land replaced)—

(a) for “the United Kingdom” substitute “England and Wales or Northern Ireland”;

(b) omit “or security”.

(14) In paragraph 19(1) (HMRC to notify Registrar of discharge)—

(a) omit “or security”;

(b) omit paragraph (b).

Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 (asp 1)

In section 9(1) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 (Keeper of the Registers of Scotland: financial arrangements) omit “(other than payments of stamp duty land tax)”.’.—(Mr Gauke.)

Schedule 4, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 30

Scottish tax on disposals to landfill

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stewart Hosie]

I beg to move amendment 51, page 24, line 20, leave out from ‘which’ to end of line 22 and insert—

‘are required by them to meet current expenditure because of a shortfall in receipts from the Scottish rate of income tax or devolved taxes.’.

[The Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means (Dawn Primarolo)]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 52, page 24, line 22, at end insert—

‘(1ZA) In borrowing sums under subsection (1), the Scottish Ministers must have regard to any code of practice agreed by them and the Treasury.

(1ZB) A code of practice agreed under subsection (1ZA) may include provision as to—

(a) how the Scottish Ministers are to determine and keep under review how much they can afford to borrow,

(b) the terms and conditions on which sums may be borrowed,

(c) limits on the aggregate at any time outstanding in respect of the principal of sums borrowed.’.

Amendment 54, page 24, line 23, leave out from ‘may’ to ‘any’ in line 24 and insert ‘borrow’.

Amendment 55, page 24, line 28, at end insert—

‘(1C) In borrowing any sums under subsection (1A), the Scottish Ministers must have regard to any code of practice agreed by them and the Treasury.

(1D) A code of practive agreed under subsection (1C) may include provision as to—

(a) how the Scottish Ministers are to determine and keep under review how much they can afford to borrow,

(b) the terms and conditions on which sums may be borrowed,

(c) limits on the aggregate at any time outstanding in respect of the principal of sums borrowed.’.

Amendment 53, page 24, line 31, leave out subsections (6) to (8) and insert—

‘(5A) Subsections (2) and (3) are omitted.’.

Amendment 56, page 24, leave out line 38 to line 5 on page 25.

Amendment 57, page 25, leave out subsection (10).

Clause 32 stand part.

[Stewart Hosie]

The borrowing powers in the Bill are at the heart of devolution. On Second Reading, a number of serious questions were raised on both revenue and capital borrowing powers. I shall come to the detailed issues in the main part of my comments, but, fundamentally, I am seeking to put in place a code of practice for the Treasury and the Scottish Government to address limits, restrictions, thresholds, maximum amounts and the nature of borrowing, be it through bonds or direct loans from the consolidated fund. That is a sensible way to amend the Bill. To make such provisions otherwise would require draft orders to be tabled, but amendments to Bills cannot be made with draft orders. Much of the narrative on this matter is in the Command Paper, but it is likewise impossible to amend by amending the Bill.

The amendments are pretty self-explanatory but I would like to detail the reasons for them. The revenue-borrowing powers are fundamentally linked to the wider taxation proposals in the Bill. Both the Scottish National party and the Scottish Government have previously made clear their concerns about the tax proposals. If a full range of fiscal policy levers were available to the Scottish Government, it would have to include a borrowing regime with sufficient flexibility to allow public spending profiles to be managed across entire economic cycles, not simply four-year forecast periods. The UK Government’s proposals, however, fall far short of that, yet by exposing the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament to cyclical fluctuations in income tax they embed a high degree of volatility in Scotland’s public finances, which cannot be right when we are seeking to protect public services and find means to grow the economy.

The Bill proposes to allow for annual borrowing of up to £200 million in any one year, and for a maximum limit of £500 million to finance current expenditure where there are differences between forecasts and the outturns of Scottish tax revenue under the Bill’s income tax proposals. Loans must be made within four years of being taken out. I understand that these provisions are additional to the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998, which allows revenue borrowing for the purposes of providing cash balances and maintaining cash flow. The aggregate limit of the Act is also £500 million, so the additional purpose proposed in the Bill, plus the passage of the 13 years since the original limit was set, has apparently not been considered sufficient reason for lifting the limit. We do not believe that that is credible.

The Bill also lacks flexibility to deal not necessarily with forecast errors, but forecast falls identified in advance. I will return later to the reason that that is a problem. More crucially, the provisions in the Bill are insufficient to manage volatility in tax receipts that might reasonably be expected to occur. Importantly, over the past decade, UK Government income tax forecasts have, on average, been overly optimistic, and the annual cap of £200 million would have been insufficient to offset deviations in income tax receipts relative to forecasts in recent years.