Grassroots Football Funding: Wembley Stadium

David Crausby Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd January 2019 Westminster Hall

[Sir David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend accept that there is lots of money in the game of football, with footballers on as much as £500,000 a week? Should we not be tapping deeper into the billions of pounds that come in as a result of television deals before football clubs get hold of that money?

[Justin Madders]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. That is one of a number of ways in which we can harness the wealth that is in the game to better effect, and as I say, that is something I encourage Government to look at closely.

While we are here, I will say a few words about the future of Wembley. Obviously, the proposed sale split public opinion, and I, like many others, had concerns. I do not know whether another offer will come along, but I understand that the Government will have a say over whether any sale goes ahead, so if that does come to pass, I ask the Government first to consider what we have discussed today about harnessing that money. Secondly, I ask the Government to consider whether safeguards could be put in place so that important domestic and international games always take precedence at that stadium; what measures we could put in place to meet the needs of fans, in terms of kick-off times and the availability and price of tickets; and what assurance there would be that any future purchaser beyond the initial one could be held to any agreements that were made on initial sale with the FA. As I say, we are not in that place now, but I would be interested to hear the Minister’s thoughts on that.

Finally, I will take this opportunity to say a few words of thanks to the thousands of people who give up their time to voluntarily run the teams, organise the fixtures, paint the lines, mow the pitches, put up the nets, and all the other jobs. Without those people, grassroots football would not exist. Their love of the game means that millions of people up and down the country get to participate, and their dedication gives youngsters opportunities to emulate their heroes. They often have to do so while getting changed in car parks in the freezing cold, facing frequent cancellations and bobbly pitches that are mud baths, so it is not surprising that kids sometimes prefer to spend their time playing football on the Xbox, rather than in real life. We all know about the need to encourage healthy living and exercise, and we all know about the many distractions kids have that do not involve them getting off their couches, so we need to make the playing experience as genuinely enjoyable as possible. There are probably not many pastimes that bring as much pleasure as scoring the winning goal in the last minute of an important game, but we know those occasions are few and far between, so we need to make sure that when kids play, they are encouraged; they are comfortable; and most of all, they enjoy themselves.

Football is more than just a game, and certainly more than just a business. It is an integral part of our culture, something that needs nurturing and protecting, and I firmly believe that the fruits of this golden age in the professional sport should be used to help secure its future so that everyone can enjoy it.

Taxation of Low-income Families

David Crausby Excerpts

Wednesday 16th January 2019 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Selous]

We need to look at everything we can do to strengthen family life, because we know that strong families—healthy, supportive, committed, mutually respectful couple relationships—are the bedrock of our society. As a Government, we used to talk a lot about reducing the couple penalty; certainly when we were in opposition and preparing for Government, that was a significant objective. We have made some progress towards that, given what we have done through universal credit, but it is still a big issue, as all of us see week after week in our constituency surgeries. We sometimes speak to single mums who are on their own, who are not acknowledging their partner because of the loss of income that would entail. That is not a good state of affairs, because there exists a loving, respectful relationship in which mum and dad want to live together, but they are not doing so because they would be penalised. It is all very well for us to talk about people doing the right thing, but for a lot of our constituents that is not possible if they are hit in the pocket. That message needs to hit home.

I will conclude by coming back to the importance of family, which my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton has quite rightly pressed me on. I know that I am pushing at an open door, because I rechecked the excellent speech that the Chancellor made in Birmingham in October. When he listed the principles that inspire him as a politician, strong families and family stability were right up there. I think the Chancellor gets this—I think the whole Treasury team gets this—so I hope that when the Minister responds he will give us a commitment that he will go back to the Treasury, talk to the Chancellor, and do detailed preparatory work and study of other countries to look at how we can make some of these changes. We are not asking the Minister to come up with specific answers today, as we know there is a lot of detailed work to be done, but I hope he will give us an undertaking that he will go back to the Treasury and make sure this work gets underway.

[Sir David Crausby (in the Chair)]

I had wanted to call the Front Benchers by 10.25, but I will call Sir John Hayes for a tiny contribution.

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[Peter Dowd]

I will, but the hon. Gentleman will appreciate that I do not have much time.

[Sir David Crausby (in the Chair)]

Order. Interventions should be short.

[Andrew Selous]

It will be, Sir David. The point that my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) was making was that if registrations take place in family centres, the fathers become more involved in what the family centre can provide.

Briefly, in the impact assessment of the Child Poverty Act 2010, which was introduced by the hon. Gentleman’s party when it was in government, there was a recognition that, although poverty leads to family breakdown, family breakdown also leads to poverty. Is that still the Labour party’s position?

Affordable Credit for People on Low Incomes

David Crausby Excerpts

Wednesday 5th December 2018 Westminster Hall

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Sir David Crausby (in the Chair)]

Order. It is not normal, in a half-hour debate, for hon. Members to speak unless they have sought the permission of the mover of the motion and the Minister. Is the Minister happy for other Members to speak at this point?

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (John Glen)]

Yes, as long as I have a bit of time.

[Sir David Crausby (in the Chair)]

In that case, I call Faisal Rashid.

[Faisal Rashid (Warrington South) (Lab)]

Thank you, Sir David. I also thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead (Frank Field) for securing this debate to highlight some of the appalling and exploitative lending practices that target many of the most vulnerable people in our society.

Despite the welcome demise of big payday lenders such as Wonga, people without enough to get by remain over-exposed to manipulative lending practices. A leading debt charity found that an estimated 1.4 million people used high-cost credit for everyday household costs in 2017; the figure was up from 1.1 million in 2016. High-cost credit keeps many trapped in a vicious cycle of indebtedness just to make ends meet. It is a scandal that those who are least able to afford it are left with no choice other than to accept the highest lending rates.

With in-work poverty on the rise, the Government must do more to reform the broken credit model and tackle the persistent debt spiral into which many working families have fallen. As I have witnessed in my constituency of Warrington South, credit unions constitute a commendable community initiative that seeks to prevent other people from falling into the trap of high-cost borrowing; but without substantial Government support, such alternatives struggle to address the problem fully. Often, low-income households are unaware of or unable to access affordable credit provision in their local area or nationally.

The Government must commit to a comprehensive long-term programme to expand the provision of community lending to ensure that those struggling to make ends meet can access alternatives to high-cost credit. At present, the Government appear simply to be making matters worse. I have been contacted by several constituents who have had to take out loans as a consequence of the Government’s disastrous implementation of universal credit—a flagship Government social security policy. Provision of access to affordable credit is a potential lifeline to many.

I hope that the Government will begin to take a proactive approach to solving this critical issue. It involves not just payday lenders like Wonga, but banks and building societies. There is a huge difference between interest rates for someone borrowing £1,000 and someone borrowing £20,000. The interest rates are so different: they range from 20% to 6%. We need to do something about that and ensure that provision is appropriate and affordable for people in need.

[Sir David Crausby (in the Chair)]

I think that the Minister wants about 10 minutes to respond to the debate. Is that right?

[John Glen]

indicated assent.

[Sir David Crausby (in the Chair)]

I call Stella Creasy.

Scotland Bill

David Crausby Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Temporary Chair (Mr David Crausby)]

Order. May I remind the Committee that interventions should be brief?

[David Mundell]

Obviously I am familiar with Cuthbert’s views on a range of issues, and many of the points the hon. Gentleman refers to will indeed be dealt with in the fiscal framework, which is why that is important for delivering a stable settlement.

The Scotland Parliament will retain the receipts from the income tax it is responsible for. This represents a significant devolution of powers, with Scotland retaining around £11 billion of income tax receipts. That accounts for over 90% of income tax receipts collected in Scotland. This gives Scotland greater fiscal autonomy, with incentives to increase employment and increase wage growth.

I emphasise to Members that there are no restrictions on this power. If the Scottish Parliament wants an income tax system with a dozen different rate bands, these powers allow it to do that. Similarly, if it wants to set a zero rate of income tax, it can.

As I said on Second Reading, the devolution of the rates and bands of income tax means we will correct a fundamental imbalance in the devolution settlement. Since 1999, the Scottish Parliament has debated how public money should be spent but not how it should be raised. The Scotland Act 2012 started to change that, giving the Scottish Parliament more tax-raising powers. The Bill goes much further.

As things stand, the Scottish Government still receive the vast bulk of their budget in a block grant from this Parliament and choose how to distribute that budget according to their priorities. When the UK Government have taken difficult decisions to bring our public finances back into order, the Scottish Government have often condemned us for inflicting cuts. Although I believe those spending reductions were necessary to secure our economy and are far preferable to increasing taxation on working families in Scotland, it is true that the Scottish Government took a different view. These clauses will allow them to do something about it.

With control of the rates and bands of income tax in Scotland, the Scottish Parliament will raise over half the money that it spends. If the Scottish Government want more money to spend on their priorities, such as higher welfare payments, they will be able to increase taxes to raise that money. However, they will have to justify that spending to the hard-working men and women in Scotland who will be paying for it out of their wages every month.

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[Sir Edward Leigh]

I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Clauses 12 to 14 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 15

Assignment of VAT

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

[The Temporary Chair (Mr David Crausby)]

With this it will be convenient to discuss:

New clause 20—Review of operation of VAT refund schemes in Scotland—

‘(1) The Treasury shall, within six months of the day on which this Act is passed, publish and lay before the House of Commons a review of the application of VAT refund schemes for businesses in Scotland.

(2) The review must include an analysis of the impact of the qualifying criteria for the VAT refund schemes—

(a) in Section 33 of the VAT Act 1994, and

(b) for Government Departments and the NHS,

on the level of VAT payable by Police Scotland and by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.”

Following the amalgamation of the (formerly regional) Scottish fire and rescue services and Scottish police forces into a single fire service (the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service) and a single police force (Police Scotland) respectively, they are no longer eligible for VAT exemptions under the VAT refund schemes mentioned. This amendment requires the Treasury to carry out and publish a review of the schemes in Scotland, and in particular in relation to the level of VAT payable by Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

Clause 15 makes changes to ensure that a proportion of the VAT that is attributable to Scotland may be assigned to the Scottish Government’s budget. The Smith commission set the objective that more devolved spending in Scotland should come from tax raised in Scotland. Control over setting VAT rates is not being devolved to Scotland, because EU VAT law does not allow for differential VAT rates within a member state. The changes made by clause 15 will, however, ensure that a proportion of the VAT that is attributable to Scotland may be assigned to the Scottish Government’s budget. Clause 15 sets that proportion at the first 10 percentage points of the standard rate of VAT and the first 2.5 percentage points of the reduced rate of VAT. On the basis of current VAT rates, that would be exactly half, representing, very approximately, £4.5 billion.

Clause 15 will link Scotland’s share of VAT to economic activity, providing incentives for the Scottish Government to promote growth. The Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government have considerable levers to do this, for example on skills and education policy, and it is now for them to set out how they will do that. Assigning VAT to Scotland’s budget will strengthen the financial responsibility of the Scottish Parliament, and strengthen its ability to pursue its own visions, goals and objectives.

Let me say just a word or two about new clause 20, although I am sure the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David) will be saying more about it shortly. It requests a review of VAT refund schemes in Scotland, with a particular focus on how they affect Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. In 2012, Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service restructured in order to streamline and modernise. As a result, eight local police and fire authorities became one. The restructuring stopped the duplication of support services, potentially saving £130 million, according to the Scottish Government. Like other people and organisations, fire and rescue services and the police pay VAT on the taxable goods and services they purchase, but because they are largely not engaged in business activities they cannot recover this VAT through the VAT system in the same way as businesses do. However, there are, in certain clearly defined circumstances, existing schemes that refund some or all VAT.

Section 33 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 was introduced to ensure that VAT is not a cost borne by local taxation. There are two long-established criteria for inclusion in this scheme. First, that a body must undertake a local government function—we accept that the successor bodies of the former fire and rescue service authorities do this. Secondly, the body must have the power to draw funding directly from local taxation. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is funded by the Scottish Government rather than through any legal call on local taxes, and so does not fit under that criteria. In 2011, the Scottish Government were explicitly advised of this consequence of changing from regional police and fire services to a single authority. The expected benefits in the Scottish Government’s business case far outweigh the loss of any VAT refunds, and so the Scottish Government understandably continued restructuring with that in mind. The restructuring was the decision of the Scottish Government, made with the full knowledge of the VAT consequences of their decisions. This is a historical request and is not a matter that the draft clause regarding VAT assignment should address. Having set out the background, in anticipation of the arguments we may hear from the hon. Gentleman, I urge him not to press his new clause to a Division.

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[Mr Gauke]

It is kind of the hon. Gentleman to say that I am being helpful. In the spirit of continuing to be helpful, let me say that I certainly hope that that will be the case, but of course agreements will require both parties to act in a co-operative way, which I have no reason to doubt will be the case.

With those remarks, I hope that the Committee will support clause 15 and that I have said enough to persuade the Labour party not to press new clause 20.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 15 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.



Clause 16

Tax on carriage of passengers by air

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

[The Temporary Chair (Mr David Crausby)]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Clause 17 stand part.

That schedule 1 be the First schedule to the Bill.

Clause 18 stand part.

[Mr Gauke]

Clauses 16, 17 and 18 implement the Smith commission’s recommendations by fully devolving two taxes: air passenger duty and the aggregates levy. Those taxes will be switched off in Scotland and the Scottish Parliament will then have full competence to maintain, redesign or scrap them. The changes made by clauses 16 and 18 will switch off APD in Scotland and give the Scottish Government the power to charge their own tax on passengers departing from Scottish airports. The Scottish Government will be free to make their own arrangements with regard to the design and collection of any replacement tax. Alongside that, funding for the Scottish Government will be reduced by an amount equivalent to the APD that would have been raised in Scotland.

Clauses 17 and 18 and schedule 1 make changes to ensure that the UK aggregates levy can be fully devolved to Scotland. The Smith commission agreement stated that there would be full devolution of the levy to Scotland following resolution of the legal challenges against the levy. The changes made by clause 17 will give the Scottish Parliament the power to charge a tax on the commercial exploitation of aggregate. The clause also introduces schedule 1, and together they enable the existing UK levy to be disapplied to Scotland. These provisions allow the Scottish Government freedom in the design and implementation of any tax on the commercial exploitation of aggregate in Scotland.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Crausby Excerpts

Tuesday 16th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

T3. Given that the population of Greater Manchester is bigger than those of both Wales and Northern Ireland and not far short of the population of Scotland, why are the people of Greater Manchester being denied the opportunity to decide whether they want a directly elected mayor? What is wrong with a constitutional referendum in England for a change?

[Mr Osborne]

I am sorry to hear that the hon. Gentleman disagrees with the Labour civic leadership across the authorities of Greater Manchester. They are elected, of course, and the elected national Government put together this deal. It will increase accountability in Greater Manchester because there will be an elected mayor whom people can hold directly to account.

EU Budget (Surcharge)

David Crausby Excerpts

Monday 10th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

My right hon. Friend is very kind. One of the reasons why this surcharge, as he puts it, has arisen is because of the strong UK economic performance relative to the continent of Europe. We should not be happy about the poor performance of the European continent. We want the European continent to be performing better.

[Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

Has not Britain had the rebate for a very long time? Can someone therefore tell me why the Chancellor has only just found out how it works? He was taken by surprise by the £1.7 billion bill in the first place, and now he belatedly discovers the rebate. How can the House have any confidence that the Chancellor knows what is going on?

[Mr Osborne]

The House can have confidence that this Government fight for Britain’s interests in Europe, because we have cut the EU budget, got us out of those disastrous eurozone bail-outs that the Labour Government put us into, and had the rebate applied—a rebate which, of course, the hon. Gentleman’s party wanted to get rid of.

Wales Bill

David Crausby Excerpts

Tuesday 6th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Owen Smith]

On a point of order, Mr Crausby. Is it in order for the Secretary of State—who we have not heard from for, I think, fully 245 minutes—to dwell for almost the entirety of his speech today on continuing the war on Wales and the Welsh NHS, none of which is addressed in this Bill, which is meant to be about the financial circumstances post-the Silk commission as they relate to Wales, not the NHS in Wales?

[The Temporary Chair (Mr David Crausby)]

The Minister is addressing the clauses. It is up to him what he says in his speech.

[David T. C. Davies]

Further to that point of order, Mr Crausby. Given that Labour Members of the National Assembly for Wales’s health Committee are refusing to hear this evidence and are refusing to hear from important witnesses, is it not absolutely right that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State should continue to raise the issue of the scandalous standards of care in the NHS in Wales?

[The Temporary Chair]

As long as—[Interruption.] Order. As long as the Minister is talking to the amendments, he can say what he likes.

[Mr David Jones]

Thank you, Mr Crausby. It is clear that the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Owen Smith) does not want to hear what we are doing to remedy the problems in the Welsh health service.

Work is under way, led by the Department of Health and the Wales Office, to find practical and durable solutions to the problems which patients living on both sides of the border face on a daily basis. In March, the Secretary of State for Health made a commitment to this House that, by the end of this year at the latest, we would find a solution to the problems faced by English patients who must currently use NHS services in Wales but who would prefer to receive their treatment in England. My right hon. Friend has also asked the chief executive of NHS England to investigate the possibility of the English NHS providing treatment to Welsh patients in areas where the Welsh NHS proves unable to provide the care they need.

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[Mr Llwyd]

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

[The Temporary Chairman (Mr David Crausby)]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 8—Crown Estate in Wales: Revenue—

‘Revenue raised by the Crown Estate in Wales shall be paid into the Welsh Consolidated Fund.’.

New clause 9—Crown Estate Commissioner with special responsibility for Wales—

‘(1) In Schedule 1 to the Crown Estate Act 1961 (Constitution etc of Crown Estate Commissioners), paragraph 1 is amended as follows.

(2) After sub-paragraph (3) insert—

“(3A) One of the Commissioners shall be appointed as the Crown Estate Commissioner with special responsibility for Wales, who must be a person who knows about conditions in Wales as they relate to the functions of the Commissioners.”.

(3) After sub-paragraph (4) insert—

“(4A) The Crown Estate Commissioner with special responsibility for Wales shall be appointed on the recommendation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who shall consult the Welsh Ministers before making that recommendation.”.’.

[Mr Llwyd]

Everyone will be pleased to hear that I shall be fairly brief. [Interruption.] I sense the disappointment. I am sorry to let the Chamber down at this late hour.

New clause 7 is about the transfer of ownership and control of the Crown estates in Wales, new clause 8 is about the consequent transfer of revenue and new clause 9 is about appointing a Crown Estate commissioner with special responsibility for Wales. As has been said in various debates by various colleagues, we have set about preserving the integrity of the Silk recommendations, so in speaking to these new clauses, which stand in my name and those of my two honourable colleagues, my hon. Friends the Members for Arfon (Hywel Williams) and for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (Jonathan Edwards), I shall first deal with new clause 9.

New clause 9 is the recommendation of the cross-party commission on devolution, which was chaired by Paul Silk. The recommendation is less than we wanted, but it recognises what was agreed as part of a compromise. That is why it is disappointing to see it left out of the Bill by the Government. The new clause deals with the appointment of a Crown Estate commissioner with special responsibility for Wales.

The Crown Estate has a diverse range of holdings throughout Wales. As well as agricultural land and mineral rights, these include the sea bed out to the 12-mile nautical limit, within which it is responsible for issuing, for example, permits and leases for wind energy creation. However, the Crown Estate is not accountable to the people of Wales, and all profits from its holdings, both onshore and offshore, are passed to the UK Government. These are likely to grow substantially in the future, mainly due to the demand for renewable energy. We in Plaid Cymru believe that ownership and control over the Crown Estate in Wales should be transferred to the Welsh Government. That is the issue we are probing through new clauses 7 and 8.

The Crown Estate in Wales is likely to be increasingly important, especially in the context of its role, as I said, in developing renewable energy. Devolving the Crown Estate is essential in order for Wales to have a say in how energy projects are planned and to see financial gain from the natural riches that are harvested by them, whether that is renewable or other forms of energy.

We welcomed the announcement roughly a year and a half ago by the United Kingdom Government establishing the coastal communities fund, which will increase investment in Wales based on a share of Crown Estate revenues above the existing Barnett formula allocation, but we need to make progress and build on this.

The Silk commission recommendation of a Crown Estate commissioner with special responsibility for Wales was reached as a compromise. We believe that the recommendation should be adopted as soon as possible and the Bill seems to us to be the vehicle for so doing. The London Treasury is the Crown Estate’s sponsor Department, with the Economic Secretary as its sponsoring Minister. The Crown Estate is led and directed by its board of eight commissioners. The board includes a member who represents Scotland, but no other part of the United Kingdom is specifically represented. The Scottish Government are consulted on the appointment of the member representing Scotland.

Although Wales accounts for a relatively small percentage of the value of the Crown Estate’s portfolio, amounting to roughly £8.6 million, we believe that that will increase substantially in the future and that it should be within the control of the Government and the Assembly of Wales. Dr Richard Cowell of Cardiff university suggested in his evidence to the Silk commission that

“bringing ownership of the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government might enable a better quality of debate about the kind of off-shore renewable energy development pathway that is appropriate for Wales, and open up discussion on how the royalties from resource exploitation should be best invested.”

We believe the Wales Bill, given its financial and taxation remit, should include the same provision as is made for Scotland in the Scotland Act 2012, which provides for a Crown commissioner with special responsibility. Not only should Wales be equal with Scotland in this regard, but all the main parties have agreed to it as part of the recommendation of the Silk commission. Recommendation 17 of the second Silk report states that

“there should be a Welsh Crown Estate Commissioner”

and that

“a Crown Estate office should be established in Wales”.

Finance (No. 2) Bill

David Crausby Excerpts

Wednesday 17th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Steve McCabe]

The Government repeatedly promise to crack down on tax avoidance. Of course, I welcome any efforts in that direction, but as my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine McKinnell) pointed out, the prospect of between £60 million and £85 million projected extra revenue against a tax gap of £32.2 billion is hardly the stuff of ground-breaking flagship policies. I am curious to know just who will be pursued under the Government’s plans. As we heard, GAAR will be targeted at abusive avoidance that has abnormal features, and on those involved in highly contrived tax avoidance. Does that mean that normal, low-key, run-of-the-mill, common or garden tax avoidance is going to carry on as normal, with very little activity directed at it at all? Like others, it is not clear to me that GAAR is focused on the tax avoidance of the multinational corporations we have heard so much about lately.

I am pleased that the Government are planning to put tax avoidance on the agenda at the G8 summit, but it would be better if we had a clear indication tonight on what they intend to achieve. For example, I want to know whether the Prime Minister plans to follow up Chancellor Merkel’s concerns about the lack of monitoring of British sovereign territories, which are increasingly used as tax havens. I would love to know how a place such as Jersey became the world’s largest exporter of bananas. Will the G8 be considering guideline prices to help countries in the developing world? Will there be any discussion on an international tax inspector operation to help the countries that are being sucked dry by international lawyers, accountants and financiers?

At the very least, the Government could announce that they are ending tax secrecy by accepting amendment 3 and insisting that multinational groups publish a simple, single figure for the amount of corporation tax they pay in this country, instead of the current arrangements where they parcel the tax paid in a variety of ways that permits avoidance. The Government might also say that they intend to take some action against law firms in this country who all too readily set up shell companies, no questions asked, in the full knowledge that they are aiding and abetting tax avoidance and other corrupt practices.

The Prime Minster might also follow up on his promise that members of his Government publish details of their own tax affairs. Why not lead by example? This is not France. We have nothing to fear here—I think—unlike in France, where the man charged with fighting tax evasion turns out to be a tax fraud himself. At least the French President is now going to force his Ministers to publish details of their tax affairs. Why does our Prime Minister not do the same? He said that he would.

I welcome measures to tighten the rules on companies that arrange loans for their directors or shareholders, in place of taxable salaries or dividends. That particular activity sounds remarkably close to the tax arrangements that brought down Glasgow Rangers football club, and may be widespread in football. I therefore welcome what the Minister is doing on that.

Finally, why has the Chancellor backtracked on retrospective legislation restricting the right of companies to bid for Government work where they have lost disputes with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs over tax avoidance? The Government are not frightened of retrospective legislation, as we saw in the case of the jobseeker’s allowance claimants who won their appeal over dodgy back-to-work schemes. Why is it okay to protect tax avoiders, but punish the unemployed?

[The Temporary Chair (Mr David Crausby)]

For the information of the Committee, I intend to call the Minister at 9.30 pm.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

Today has graphically demonstrated to me one of the real differences between the haves and have-nots in our society. I will not go into the rights and wrongs, but today we spent millions on Baroness Thatcher’s funeral, yet Jade Lomas-Anderson, the 14-year-old child killed by dogs in my constituency, still has not had her funeral, because her parents and the community are still frantically trying to raise enough money to pay for it.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Crausby Excerpts

Tuesday 6th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)]

7. What assessment he has made of the effect on families of the changes in eligibility rules for working tax credit to be introduced in April 2012.

[Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

13. What assessment he has made of the effect on families of the changes in eligibility rules for working tax credit to be introduced in April 2012.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Miss Chloe Smith)]

The Government are reforming tax credits to ensure that support is targeted on those most in need and costs are controlled. The change to the working hours requirement for couples with children makes the system fairer by reducing the disparity between lone parents and couples. Lone parents have to work 16 hours a week to be eligible for tax credits, so it is right that couples should have to work more hours between them.

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[Miss Smith]

This Government’s main priority, as the hon. Lady knows very well, is to reduce the deficit left to us by her party, for which her party shows no responsibility whatever. She will also know that the cumulative average loss for households from our measures next year will in fact be £310.

[Mr Crausby]

Last week a young woman constituent employed locally by the Stroke Association complained to me that as a result of the association’s funding being cut, her hours were being reduced from 28 to 20, so she loses eight hours’ pay and tax credits as well. What advice can the Minister give my constituent other than to stop work and go on benefits?

[Miss Smith]

I would be sure that the hon. Gentlemen’s constituent in that case took a clear look around at the opportunities available throughout the economy. I refer him to my previous response, which is that vacancies were up in the three months to January 2012. There are jobs out there: hon. Members need only to hear, for example, this morning’s announcement from Nissan—somewhere near the hon. Gentleman’s constituency—to know that there is work available.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Crausby Excerpts

Tuesday 1st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

What the Greek Prime Minister has apparently offered the Greek people is a referendum on difficult decisions required to get the budget deficit down. That is what he is talking about. We talked about these things in advance of a general election. Two parties here talked about those difficult decisions. We got elected, we are in government and we are now doing it, and we are recovering from the deep mess that the Labour party left us in.

[Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

T2. Will the Chancellor intervene to prevent directors’ pay from increasing by another 49% this year? Or if he is not willing to intervene, will he at least explain to those suffering cuts in pay and the loss of their jobs, just how we are all in this together?

[Mr Osborne]

I have made it very clear, and the Prime Minister has made it very clear, that at all levels of society people have to be mindful of the current economic situation, and that includes highly paid directors and people working for the financial services. Bonuses are significantly lower than they were under the Government whom the hon. Gentleman supported, and we are also introducing measures to encourage transparency in pay, and to give shareholders greater control over executive pay as well.