Karin Smyth
Main Page: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)Department Debates - View all Karin Smyth's debates with the HM Treasury
(1 year, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Victoria Atkins
The hon. Gentleman raises a serious point. I do not have the answer to hand, but I will ensure that the relevant Health Minister writes to him, because I understand why he raises it.
There has been a great deal of discussion about nurses’ pay, and we are extremely regretful and very much hoping that accommodations and agreements can be found. To put into context recent pay rises, more than 1 million staff including nurses have benefited from a pay rise of at least £1,400 backdated to April this year. That is on top of the 3% pay rise they received last year. My hon. Friend the Member for Winchester asked an interesting question: does Labour support or oppose the independent pay review bodies, which set the recommendations that have been accepted?
Victoria Atkins
I will not, because I have to finish.
Turning to non-doms, I must congratulate the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Ealing North (James Murray), on his florid use of language in relation to my advocacy efforts in the Finance Bill debates. I hope that I am able to answer his question in a moment. The motion deals with non-dom taxpayers. As I have said repeatedly—and I hope at some point it will get through—non-dom residents who live in the UK have to pay UK taxes on their UK income and gains, just like everybody else. That raised £7.9 billion last year, and non-doms have invested £6 billion.
The area over which there is disagreement is the rules relating to foreign income, and the Opposition ask whether this is the answer. I have listened with great interest to how the sum they have put in their motion is apparently going to answer all sorts of economic difficulties, particularly during consideration of the Finance Bill, and I am not sure it will quite add up. Interestingly, it was a Conservative Government who reformed non-dom laws to end the ability to claim this status permanently, and I note that the non-dom status survived during 13 years of Labour government. In any event, the Chancellor said very frankly in evidence to the Treasury Committee last week that he has asked officials to look at it.
We have the workforce strategy, which will be delivered. NHS England has done considerable work, and we hope that it will report as soon as possible. It has been a real pleasure for me to be able to praise the NHS and thank its extraordinary staff. What the NHS needs is a Government making the right decisions for the economy, so that we can actually afford a world-class health service. That is what this Government are determined to deliver.
Question put.