Work, Health and Disability

Debate between David Gauke and Cheryl Gillan

Thursday 30th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

It is important that we all seek to remove barriers to work and to increase opportunities for disabled people to get into work. I think we should have a constructive debate on that shared objective, and I will take that contribution as a constructive contribution, even though it did not always sound quite like it.

May I pick up one or two points in what the hon. Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova) said? Let us be clear: what has actually happened over the past four years is that the number of disabled people in work has increased by 600,000. To go now from 3.5 million disabled people in work to 4.5 million people in work over the course of the decade is an ambitious objective; it will require a great deal of work. I hope there can be a constructive debate in delivering that. I welcome the Mayor of London’s remarks this morning, in the context of the Work and Health programme in London, in which he recognised what we have done and said it was time to put party politics aside on this matter. I hope that we can maintain that spirit across the board.

Let us remember what we are already delivering. The hon. Lady refers to Access to Work. Well, the budget of Access to Work—the expenditure of Access to Work—increased by 8% last year. We have in place the personal support package, helping people, where we are spending £330 million over the next four years. Let me be clear as to how we approach this. We recognise that there will be some disabled people and people with health conditions who will not be able to work, and we need to continue to support them—it is worth noting that we spend record amounts on benefits for disabled people. However, there are also very many people who want to work, and we are determined to do everything we can to support them, whether that is by using our capabilities in the welfare system and the health system or working with employers, because we want to put work at the centre of this.

Work matters. It should be at the heart of what we do in delivering a welfare system. That is exactly what this Government do across the board. I can draw a parallel with our debates last week about universal credit, which helps people into work. That is the approach that we are delivering, and I hope at some point we can have the support of the Labour party in achieving that objective.

[Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)]

May I first welcome this 10-year plan? I am delighted that the Secretary of State and the Department continue to focus on this area. He knows that I have campaigned for many years to improve the life chances of people with autism, but sadly still only 16% of adults with autism are in full-time employment, and only 32% in full-time or part-time employment, and that percentage has not really shifted much in a decade. I pay tribute to the Secretary of State for International Development, to whom I presented, on 21 February, when she was a Work and Pensions Minister, a cross-party petition, signed by 30,000 people, about the autism employment gap. Can he give me an assurance that he will continue to focus on the needs of people with autism and close that gap once and for all?

[Mr Gauke]

I thank my right hon. Friend for her question and pay tribute to the work that she does on autism, including the work that she has done for many years now as chair of the all-party autism group. Yesterday she published a very good report on the issue and we are studying its contents closely. She highlights this issue. That is the challenge: we have made progress across the board, but is there more to do? Absolutely; there is more to do. She highlights the employment gap for those with autism. That is something that we do have to address as a society.

Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill

Debate between David Gauke and Cheryl Gillan

Monday 12th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

All these matters are kept under review. My hon. Friend has been a consistent and doughty campaigner for reform in this area. If we had exactly the same system in place for commercial property, with the same thresholds and so on, we would be imposing a much greater burden on commercial property transactions, because by their nature they tend to be of a more substantial size. There is a higher level of consideration in place than for most residential property transactions. The argument for reform for residential property was particularly strong, which is why we took these steps. Consideration of whether there is a strong and persuasive case for reform for commercial property is perhaps a matter for another day.

[Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)]

I join my hon. Friend the Member for St Albans (Mrs Main) in welcoming the provisions, which will provide a great deal of assistance to the housing market.

The Minister knows that for some time I have been pursuing stamp duty land tax for all those affected by the notorious HS2 infrastructure project. Is the Minister willing, while he is looking into this matter, to review those provisions? The SDLT relief applies to only a very narrow number of properties. To keep the property market operating normally, it should be possible to extend it to properties up and down the line that are being so adversely affected by the project.

[Mr Gauke]

I am grateful for that observation from my right hon. Friend and constituency neighbour. I know well how the issue of SDLT in general must be relevant to many of her constituents. On the specific point about HS2, the Government remain to be persuaded that SDLT is necessarily the right measure for addressing the concerns that she identifies and on which she provides an articulate voice in defence of her constituents and others affected by the project. We remain to be convinced, but I know that she will continue to make her argument, and we will continue to look at it carefully. As I said, however, we are not yet convinced that reform of SDLT, or an exemption or relief, would necessarily provide the right support for those with properties affected by HS2.

Clause 1 substitutes a new table A setting out the new tax rates and bands applying to a transaction consisting wholly of residential property and amends the calculation rules for these transactions so that each rate of tax applies only to that part of the consideration that falls within the relevant band. The total tax due is then the sum of the amounts for each band. The new calculation rules extend to linked transactions—those that form part of a scheme arrangement or a series of transactions between the same buyer and seller. In this case, SDLT applies to the aggregate consideration for all the linked transactions.

The new rules do not apply to transactions to which table B in section 55 of the 2003 Act applies—transactions or linked transactions consisting wholly of non-residential or a mixture of residential and non-residential property. The clause introduces the schedule, which makes consequential amendments to SDLT legislation to take account of the reform. The main changes are to the method of calculating the tax due under certain SDLT reliefs. The first relief is for statutory leasehold enfranchisement, where leaseholders of flats club together to buy the freehold of their block. This relief formerly operated by setting the rate of SDLT according to the amount paid for the freehold, divided by the number of qualifying flats. Under the new arrangements, first we divide the amount paid for the freehold by the number of qualifying flats and calculate the amount of tax due on that sum. We then multiply that amount of tax by the number of qualifying flats in order to arrive at the total tax due.

Secondly, a similar change is made to relief for purchasers of multiple crofts from a landlord by a crofting community body under the crofting community right to buy scheme. This relief only applies in Scotland so will only be relevant until 1 April 2015, when SDLT in Scotland is replaced by the devolved land and buildings transaction tax.

Finally, a similar change is made to multiple dwellings relief, which applies to purchasers of more than one dwelling in either a single transaction or linked transactions. This relief was previously subject to a minimum rate of 1%. Under the new rules, the amount will be equivalent to 1% of the chargeable consideration given for the dwellings, which in practice gives the same result.

Right hon. and hon. Members raised several important points on Second Reading. I would like to take this opportunity to explain in a little more detail the Government’s position on some of those issues. First, it has been asked why we have chosen not to apply the new rules to non-residential—commercial and agricultural —property as well as to residential property. That point was raised just now by my hon. Friend the Member for St Albans (Mrs Main). As I said, the market for non-residential property is very different from the market for residential property. For example, non-residential properties have a higher value on average and many are held on market rent leases granted for a small or no premium. At this time, the Government do not feel it appropriate to make changes to non-residential SDLT, although all taxes are kept under review as part of the policy making process. Any change to non-residential SDLT would have to be considered very carefully.

Some concern has been expressed about the possibility of purchasers avoiding SDLT by designating the property as either residential or non-residential in order to obtain a more favourable result. What constitutes residential property is set out in the legislation. Property can be either residential or non-residential, which is a matter of fact. There is no option, as it is has been suggested there is, to flip property between one and the other. I can reassure the Committee on that.

Finally, it has been suggested that the highest rate of tax payable under the new rules might reduce the disincentive to envelope residential property provided by the 15% higher rate SDLT charge, which applies to purchasers of residential property by a company or other non-natural person. The highest marginal rate of SDLT for the purchase of residential properties above £1.5 million is now 12%. However, SDLT is charged at 15% on the whole value for residential properties bought through corporate envelopes for more than £500,000. We are not proposing to make any changes to the 15% higher rate charge. However, in the autumn statement, we announced that the annual charges of the annual tax on envelope dwellings—ATED—would increase by 50% above inflation for the chargeable period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 in order further to discourage the use of enveloping. The Government keep all taxes under review where individuals continue to hold property within corporate wrappers. They should be prepared to pay their fair share of tax.

These reforms to SDLT will remove the previous economic distortions in the system, benefiting the housing market and improving the fairness and efficiency of the tax system. They will give another boost to people looking to fulfil their aspirations of owning the place they live in and will make a real tangible and positive difference to the lives of people up and down the country.