Business of the House
Debate between Jim McMahon and Alan Campbell(1 day, 16 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Sir Alan Campbell
I will draw that to the attention of the relevant Minister, but I also invite the hon. Gentleman to hear about this from Ministers, at first hand. We will arrange an appointment, if he wishes for that to happen.
Jim McMahon (Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton) (Lab/Co-op)
Happy Lancashire day to you, Mr Speaker, and to all celebrating the historic county in Oldham, Chadderton and Royton. For 15 years, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs mileage rate has been 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles. In that time, the cost of buying and running a car, and of insurance and repairs, has clearly increased, but HMRC has not caught up. As a result of those cost rises, the NHS uprated its figure and will now pay 56p per mile for the first 3,500 miles. That means we now have a two-tier system, in which healthcare workers working for the NHS will be paid 25% more per mile than the home care worker in social care. Is it not time that HMRC got its act together, updated the rates, and finally treated working people with the respect that they deserve by paying them fairly for the mileage that they incur?
Sir Alan Campbell
That is a fair point. We owe a great debt to public servants, and it is important that they be treated fairly at work and in their tax matters. If my hon. Friend intends to speak in the Budget debate, he may want to raise this issue then.