The Economy

Debate between Dan Rogerson and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 11th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Lady will know that HMRC has had to make efficiency savings along with the rest of the Government. It had to make savings when the Labour party was in office and it continues to have to do that. We have increased investment specifically in the part of HMRC focused on tackling tax avoidance and evasion—an area that saw underinvestment during Labour’s time in office. As a result, 2,000 extra specialist tax inspectors—[Interruption.] My hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury brings me up to date and tells me that the figure is 2,500. Those inspectors are specifically focused on tackling tax avoidance in the affluence unit and those units that focus on offshore companies and all other tax avoidance schemes, and on implementing the anti-avoidance rule.

[Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall) (LD)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Danny Alexander]

I will give way one more time and then I will move on.

[Dan Rogerson]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend, not least for his response to Cornwall’s call for investment in the A30 infrastructure project and his earlier kind words. Does he recall that when in opposition we had to watch the then Labour Government cutting and closing HMRC offices in a lot of regions around the country, and putting on the scrap heap a lot of skilled tax inspectors, the benefit of whose experience we sadly no longer have?

[Danny Alexander]

As always, my hon. Friend makes a good point. We need people with experience in compliance and enforcement, and we are expanding employment in those areas. That is the right thing to do and it should have been done a long time ago.

The previous Government set out plans to increase fuel duty above inflation last year, this year and again in 2013 and 2014. However, as a result of repeated action by this Government, pump prices will remain at least 10p per litre lower for the remainder of this Parliament than they would have been had the Labour party remained in government.

Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Bill

Debate between Dan Rogerson and Danny Alexander

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I am advised that that is not correct, but if the hon. Gentleman wishes to enter into correspondence on the matter, I shall gladly follow it up.

[Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall) (LD)]

I am pleased that the Government are doing more to build on the work that they have done to invest in infrastructure and to encourage investment for other projects. I hope that many hon. Members visited Cornwall over the summer. If so, they might well be familiar with the Temple to Higher Carblake stretch of the A30 on Bodmin moor, which is not dualled. The road on both sides of that stretch is dualled. Local proposals have been made to come up with funding that can be put with Government funding to take the dualling scheme forward. I hope the Chief Secretary will ensure that this legislation will help to unlock local sources of funding to take such projects forward.

[Danny Alexander]

I had the pleasure of spending some time in Cornwall earlier this year, and of driving down that stretch of road. I understand the case that my hon. Friend makes. It has been made to me by Cornish colleagues from both coalition parties, and we will of course look sympathetically at any requests that might be made. It is always welcome to see local funding coming forward, and to see a local area taking responsibility for what it wants to do.