Oral Answers to Questions

Euan Stainbank Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kirsty McNeill]

These reforms still provide a very significant level of tax relief, with the first £1 million of combined business and agriculture assets continuing to receive 100% relief in most cases. Additional assets will still receive relief at a rate of 50%. The Budget was designed to protect the payslips of working people while raising record funding for public services in Scotland. The hon. Lady should outline where she thinks that money should come from if she thinks that the wealthiest landowners should not be paying more tax.

[Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)]

Inheritance tax is a necessary tax. That view is tacitly shared by Conservative Members given that they did not lift a finger to abolish it when they were in power. Do Ministers agree that taxing the most valuable farm estates at half the rate that other inheritance tax payers pay is an essential step to enable record spending on sustainable farming and to deliver record high budget settlements for Scotland? If Opposition Members disagree, they should go back to their constituencies this weekend and explain what they would cut, rather than waiting until halfway through the fiscal year, as the Scottish Government are prone to do.

[Kirsty McNeill]

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. Opposition Members have told us about how they want to see the benefits of the Budget, but they are not prepared to support any of the tax-raising measures in it. This Budget secured billions for Scotland, but the SNP voted against that. It delivered a pay rise for 200,000 of the lowest-paid Scots, but the SNP voted against that. It ended Tory austerity, and the SNP voted against that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Euan Stainbank Excerpts

Wednesday 18th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

1. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle the potential impact of socioeconomic disadvantage on future earnings.

[Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)]

2. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle the potential impact of socioeconomic disadvantage on future earnings.

[Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)]

8. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle the potential impact of socioeconomic disadvantage on future earnings.

--- Later in debate ---

[Euan Stainbank]

Proper paternity and maternity pay are essential for breaking the link between current income and further life opportunities for families. Currently, one in five fathers does not take the paternity leave available to them because it is financially inadequate. Inadequate paternity leave drives family inequality, increases the gender pay gap as women pick up greater caring responsibilities, and lowers household income. Does the Minister agree that, while the Conservative party might think that paid parental leave is too high, we on the Labour Benches recognise its crucial role in giving children the best start in life? What actions are Ministers considering to better support parents and families?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I strongly agree with my hon. Friend that, while the Conservatives have said that they think parental leave is excessive, we want to give families more choices. Through the Employment Rights Bill, we will make paternity leave available from day one in a new job and enable it to be taken after shared parental leave. We are also committed to reviewing the parental leave system to ensure that it better supports working families.

Oral Answers to Questions

Euan Stainbank Excerpts

Thursday 5th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

11. What steps he is taking to reform public procurement.

[Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)]

14. What steps he is taking to reform public procurement.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Georgia Gould)]

I spent the last few weeks meeting small and medium-sized enterprises, voluntary and community sector organisations, wider businesses and contracting authorities to discuss how we ensure that the approximately £300 billion that is spent each year on public sector procurement delivers for our communities. With this Government, procurement will deliver value for money, better public services and our national missions. The Procurement Act 2023 commences in February 2025, creating a simpler, more flexible procurement system under- pinned by a new mission-led national procurement policy statement to ensure that public procurement delivers on the Government’s missions.

--- Later in debate ---

[Georgia Gould]

As I have said, we will work hard to ensure that public contracts are supporting small businesses. I have spent a lot of time talking to them about how we can do that through the new public procurement policy and the measures in the policy statement. This week the Chancellor announced the appointment of a new covid corruption commissioner, who will be taking action to recover public money.

[Euan Stainbank]

The residents of Falkirk want a Government who work day in, day out to deliver value for money for the taxpayer. Never has that been so true as now, given the broken public finances left by the Tories and 17 years of waste and inaction from the Scottish National party up the road. Does the Minister agree that the billions we spend on public procurement must deliver value for the taxpayer, and can she tell me what steps the Government are taking to ensure that that is the case?

[Georgia Gould]

When our public services are facing so much strain and desperately need rebuilding, it is critical that we cut waste and deliver value for money. Under the last Government the procurement system too often failed to drive that efficiency, as was shown by the shocking levels of fraud and waste during the pandemic. We will bring new transparency to public sector procurement, along with a relentless focus on fraud.