Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jesse Norman and Christian Matheson

Tuesday 27th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Jesse Norman]

The suggestion that promoters are being allowed to do just anything is quite wrong. If my right hon. Friend had looked closely at the current Finance Bill, he would have seen a range of measures in that Bill alone aimed at preventing the promotion of tax avoidance schemes and at the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes, as well as other measures. HMRC takes such issues extremely seriously, and that is why the avoidance tax gap fell from £3.7 billion in 2005-06 to £1.7 billion in 2018-19—a fall of more than 50%.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

  If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jesse Norman and Christian Matheson

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Jesse Norman)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his question, which tempts me into indiscretion. He may be aware of this, but HMRC publishes annual estimates to illustrate the impact of changes in tax rates in a document sexily entitled “Direct effects of illustrative tax changes”. It is worth saying, however, that these estimates are themselves uncertain, because of different levels of behavioural response to tax changes, the potential for wider macroeconomic impacts and, of course, the interaction with other measures.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

The pubs and hospitality sector so far has done everything that has been asked of it during the pandemic, but so far 46% of pubs have not received local restrictions support grants for November, let alone December, and 74% of pubs have yet to receive the Prime Minister’s Christmas bonus of £1,000, so what will Ministers be doing to speed up these payments and when will the pubs and hospitality sector get its money?

Loan Charge 2019: Sir Amyas Morse Review

Debate between Jesse Norman and Christian Matheson

Thursday 19th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Jesse Norman]

I am not in a position to take the right hon. Gentleman through the legal arguments, and I do not need to, because, as I have said, they have been described in detail by Sir Amyas Morse in his review which, of course, is based, as my remarks would not be, on a detailed interrogation with tax experts on all the specific issues behind it. I do not think we have any sensible reason—no one has in fact offered one—for disagreeing at length or in any detail with his conclusion.

[Christian Matheson]

The Minister knows that I have all the time in the world for him, but nobody in this House disputes the fact that it was tax avoidance and that loopholes needed to be closed. He is spending his time explaining why they were avoidance schemes, but hon. Members understand that. It is the question of retrospection and unfairness that is exercising us in this debate.

[Jesse Norman]

I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman, but if I may say so, I do not think that has been true. I think the conclusion colleagues have been pushing in this debate is that they disapprove thoroughly of tax avoidance, and their view is that this is not tax avoidance in many cases. If they accept that this is tax avoidance and that the issue is merely as to the remedy, that is of course a slightly different position, and one that I am happy to respond to.

I just want to make it clear that this is a form of tax avoidance. It goes to the wider issue as to whether people should have known what it was. The point is that it is tax avoidance, and it costs the Exchequer hundreds of millions of pounds a year. That has two effects: it deprives public services of the money they need to operate; and it forces other taxpayers to pay more to make up the shortfall.

The purpose of the loan charge was to combat this form of abusive tax avoidance. The loan charge was introduced as a new measure in 2017. Following a public campaign last year, we asked Sir Amyas Morse, as has been noted, to conduct a review of whether it was an appropriate policy response to the use of the disguised remuneration scheme. He had full control of the review’s management and recommendations. He took evidence from a very wide range of individuals affected, and he spoke to interest groups, MPs, tax specialists and many other stakeholders.

Again, the facts are not in doubt. Sir Amyas Morse, as has been recognised by colleagues today, is an individual of huge experience and great independence of mind, and he is widely respected across the House. He was independent in his review, and he was given wide scope in expert support. He produced a thorough and exacting piece of work—a 76-page, 30,000-word report—that drew on over 700 individual testimonies and impact statements, and which painstakingly worked through the issues before recommending notable changes to the policy, including substantial carve-outs as to who was affected. Sir Amyas was clinical and at times unsparing in his criticisms, including of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and, be it said, of the Loan Charge Action Group. All but one of these recommendations were accepted by the Government.

Among those recommendations were two to which I want to draw the House’s particular attention. The first is Sir Amyas’s insistence, as we have heard across the House today, on the need for the Government to go further in going after and bringing to justice people who enable or promote tax avoidance schemes. I am therefore delighted that, as part of the Budget documentation we have produced today, we have published a policy document on “Tackling promoters of mass-marketed tax avoidance schemes”, and I draw the attention of all colleagues to it. It is a sober and thorough piece of work that looks at lots of different approaches as part of an integrated strategy.

The other thing that Sir Amyas pointed to—again, I think rightly, but also picking up on a widely anticipated and understood gap—is the importance of raising standards in the tax advice market. Again, I am pleased to say that, as part of the Budget documentation, we have published a call for evidence on this very topic, “Raising standards in the tax advice market”. I encourage all colleagues and their constituents to contribute to that approach.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jesse Norman and Christian Matheson

Tuesday 7th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Jesse Norman)]

Happy new year, Mr Speaker. Given that it is my first time at the Dispatch Box since you became Speaker, let me just say that I recall running an operation in 2014 to prevent your predecessor from rigging the selection of the Clerk of the House of Commons; I think it speaks to the esteem in which you are held across this House that one could imagine no such thing under your speakership.

The Government published Sir Amyas Morse’s independent review of the loan charge on 20 December, alongside the Government’s response to his recommendations.

[Christian Matheson]

Clearly the loophole had to be closed, but not in the retrospective fashion that has hit so many of my constituents. If these arrangements were already illegal when my constituents were charged, why was it necessary to bring in the loan charge in 2017 at all?

[Jesse Norman]

As the hon. Gentleman will be aware from reading the review, it is a very thorough and comprehensive piece of work and Sir Amyas goes into this question. He has accepted the case for a loan charge in principle—he recognises that it was important to address the issue of abusive tax avoidance—but he said that it should apply to loans taken out after a specific date. In his judgment, that represents a fair balance between the concerns that the hon. Gentleman raises and the loan charge, and the Government have accepted that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jesse Norman and Christian Matheson

Thursday 11th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Jesse Norman]

As my hon. Friend will be aware, we have invested heavily in the A303. We have been looking closely at the A358 corridor and upgrading the A30, so I will absolutely discuss further with him the particular road he has in mind.

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

The M56 is even more congested now than when I last raised the problem just a few months ago. When can we expect confirmation that it will be included for upgrade in the next road investment strategy?

[Jesse Norman]

As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, we are already investing quite heavily in junctions 6 to 8 on the M56. Decisions about the second stage of the road investment strategy will be announced next year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jesse Norman and Christian Matheson

Thursday 24th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

The recent court case that found the collection of tolls at the Mersey crossing unlawful has afforded Ministers an opportunity to pause and review the operation of those tolls, which are hated across my region. Will they take that opportunity and review the tolls?

[Jesse Norman]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, the road has been extraordinarily successful and is a great example of a piece of newly funded infrastructure. That issue is primarily for Halton Borough Council, but we are following the situation closely.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jesse Norman and Christian Matheson

Tuesday 13th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Christian Matheson (City of Chester) (Lab)]

11. Whether his Department has received a copy of the report by PwC and the Solar Trade Association, published on 25 July 2016, on the state of the UK solar industry; and what his plans are for the future of solar power in the UK.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Jesse Norman)]

I welcome the question from a colleague I have enjoyed watching at work with his incisive questioning on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee—tragically, he is about to direct that questioning at me. I can assure him that my Department has received a copy of the PwC report and carefully noted its findings. As I have said, solar has been a great success story over the past few years. The goal, now that costs have been brought under control, is to move the industry towards having the capacity to deliver without subsidy.

[Christian Matheson]

I thank the Minister for his generous comments and for his time as Chair of the Select Committee that I serve on, and I wish him well in his new role.

The PwC report estimates that a third of jobs in solar have been lost in the past year, with a third of companies expecting to cut more staff in the next 12 months. As the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) and my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead) have suggested, rateable value changes will affect the industry further. Will the Government take into account the cumulative effect and actually do something positive for the solar industry?

[Jesse Norman]

Of course I share the hon. Gentleman’s concerns about any job losses as a result of changes in the industry. I made some points earlier about the way in which the industry is changing, and I note that the report picked out the resilience of the industry and its capacity to respond to change, potentially including that offered by Brexit. I simply say that it is noticeable that many schemes are already close to being viable without subsidy, in certain circumstances, and the key now is to move further towards that. As I have said, we will look closely at the valuation issues he has highlighted today.