Income Tax (Charge)

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Monday 4th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Chancellor not only on being the first woman ever to deliver a Budget to this House, but on being the first Chancellor to deliver a joined-up, grown-up Budget in 14 years.

Representing a Welsh constituency, I am proud that this Budget provides the largest funding boost—£21 billion —that Wales has received since devolution. That is proof, if ever that were needed, that only two Labour Governments working together will ever properly listen to, understand and fight to meet the needs of the people of Wales, who have been ignored, belittled or attacked by generations of Conservatives. We all know that our broken public services would collapse overnight without the selfless dedication of the countless women and men who, day in and day out, serve as unpaid carers. I am particularly pleased that the Budget has raised the amount by nearly £200 a month that carers can earn before losing out on carer’s allowance.

Turning to agriculture, as co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for farming, and having grown up on a small family farm, I know there has been much disquiet over the changes to agricultural property relief. I have been in constant communication with our excellent local NFU policy staff since the Budget, and I am listening to their concerns and feeding them directly back to DEFRA. It is unsurprising that farmers are worried, given that many journalists and the Conservative party have unfortunately been selectively focusing on a £1 million figure that does not reflect the reality of the policy.

Let me seek to reassure small family farmers and repeat the words of the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing North (James Murray) last week, who said:

“The total value of a farm should not be confused with the value being passed on at death. Multiple family members can own part of a farm. For example, if an individual jointly owns a farm worth £3 million with their partner, only £1.5 million is in their estate at death.”

Those are wise words, which will give comfort to many who have been misled by selective and mischievous comments on the Budget. With the additional £500,000 relief for each partner if there is a property on the farm, a farm worth up to £3 million may still pay zero inheritance tax. Yes, this Budget recognises that family farms form part of the backbone of rural communities, but it also recognises that our rural communities rely every bit as much on strong, functioning public services.

This historic Budget calls time on austerity, and brings stability back.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call Susan Murray.

Carer’s Allowance

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Collins (Harpenden and Berkhamsted) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Members for Clwyd North (Gill German) and for Weston-super-Mare (Dan Aldridge) on their maiden speeches.

Earlier this year I spoke to a family member whose mother was suffering with severe depression. Her mental health had started to plummet once she became a carer for her husband. He had fallen and been rushed to hospital, but he could not leave without a full-time carer in place. The only option for the family was to have his wife give up work and be there when he came home. The toll of that care as she became older and had to give up her job grew heavier.

I hear such heartbreaking stories of families caring for their loved ones again and again across Harpenden, Berkhamsted and Tring. Recent censuses have shown that there are thousands of unpaid carers, or family carers, across the constituency—and as has been mentioned today, those are the ones who have realised they are indeed carers.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

There are 311,000 unpaid carers in Wales, many in my constituency of Monmouthshire. Carers Wales estimates they provide free care worth £10.6 billion to the Welsh economy each year. Will the hon. Lady join me in condemning the previous Government for not dealing with the issue of overpayment?

[Victoria Collins]

Absolutely; it is a real travesty. It has come up again and again in the House that we are letting down the people who are caring for our communities and the families in them, or indeed our own families. Facing the cost and complication of getting the support they need is often left to the families and unpaid carers who lovingly pick up the pieces.

On the hon. Lady’s point, our carers are the equivalent of a second NHS. Not only are they supporting their loved ones, but they are propping up our healthcare service. It is estimated they contribute a staggering £162 billion a year, compared with an estimated £164 billion in funding for the NHS. That is a shocking £445 million per day, in comparison with the previously mentioned £81.90 per week of carer’s allowance.

I have mentioned this before in the House, but I will mention it again. In the West Hertfordshire teaching hospitals NHS trust, in one month alone, we lost 843 bed days because of a backlog in social care. That has an impact on A&E waiting times, ambulance waiting times, waiting lists and, crucially, the people waiting in hospital and their families. People want to be back home. They do not want to be stuck in hospital because of a failing system, so taking care of care and our carers is not only the right thing to do, but it helps us all.

I support the motion, which calls for overpayments to be written off, for the carer’s allowance earnings limit to be raised, and for the introduction of a taper to end the unfair cliff edge. I welcome the review, and call on the Government to support carers to juggle work and care, and as my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Bobby Dean) highlighted, to bring carers into the review. We must ensure that all carers, of all ages, are given the care that they need. We must support those who support our loved ones, and who are supporting our NHS and every one of us in ways that we may never know.