Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Diana Johnson and Sheila Gilmore

Tuesday 24th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

13. What plans he has to review the effects of the Help to Buy scheme.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

14. What progress his Department has made on the Help to Buy scheme.

Finance Bill

Debate between Diana Johnson and Sheila Gilmore

Tuesday 3rd July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sheila Gilmore]

I shall say something about precisely that issue later.

The time and effort of officials and politicians was largely wasted by a process that, in some but not all instances, led us back to where we started at a time when the economy was tanking. Could not much of that energy have been expended on something far more worth while? It was said on Second Reading that this was not a Budget for jobs and growth but a Budget that tinkered at the edges of various issues, and the Government have themselves conceded that all that tinkering was probably a bad idea.

[Diana Johnson]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the VAT measures in the Budget had a major effect on business confidence in certain industries? For instance, when the caravan industry was threatened with the imposition of a 20% rate, some companies issued their work forces with 90-day potential redundancy notices.

[Sheila Gilmore]

Of course the stress and anxiety affected confidence and well-being. Indeed, it may have led to a further plunge in demand as people anticipated the impending redundancy which, thankfully, did not come about in many cases. That is an important consideration at a time when the economy is struggling so much.

I think that a great deal of time was wasted because the Government included measures in the Budget rather than dealing with the position earlier. If they believed that there were anomalies in the VAT system, why did they not consult? As I have suggested before, they could have said “We are minded to look at these things” at the time of the autumn statement, rather than at a time when they were putting together a Budget that, apparently, they wanted to balance. We heard a lot about that at the time.

Why did the Government not say “We want to look at these anomalies and review them in a general context”? One of our amendments proposes that that should happen in future. If there is to be consultation, it should be proper consultation. Saying, as the Chancellor did in March, “This is what we have to do and this is why we have to do it, but we will have a bit of consultation afterwards” is putting the cart before the horse. I hope that that lesson will be learned for the future.