Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kate Green and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 29th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I am sure that if the hon. Lady had had longer, she would have welcomed today’s growth figures and the jobs and employment opportunities that that has created for people right across the United Kingdom, particularly in Scotland. The 3.2 million people that the hon. Lady mentions have already been taken out of tax by the actions of this coalition Government—something that she did not welcome. Of course, the extra opportunities to increase their time in work also helps those individuals. We are increasing our support for child care, with the Government providing free hours, extending support under universal credit and introducing tax-free child care, too. This Government have done far more than any previous Government to help working people with children get back into work.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

11. What recent assessment he has made of the effect of his fiscal policies on the level of child poverty.

National Infrastructure Plan

Debate between Kate Green and Danny Alexander

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I am grateful for the question. The published strike prices are set out in table 3.D on page 50 of the national infrastructure plan. I do not intend to read out all the numbers, as I am sure you will be pleased to hear, Mr Speaker. The real point is that we are moving to competitive allocations for onshore wind and solar earlier than we thought, precisely because prices are coming down. There is a degree of competition to secure the best and most cost-effective projects, and that should help to secure the objectives that he and I share.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

I note from the document published today that the Government will monitor progress on the Manchester Metrolink extension programme. What conversations are the Treasury and the Government having with Greater Manchester authorities and Transport for Greater Manchester to ensure that the extension link through Trafford Park is both properly financed and on time?

[Danny Alexander]

That is one of the projects that we will track under our new infrastructure tracking regime, which will make sure that any problems are surfaced for Ministers much more quickly than they have in the past. If the hon. Lady is aware of any particular causes of delay, I encourage her to let me know. I will of course make sure that Transport Ministers are aware of her concerns.

Investing in Britain’s Future

Debate between Kate Green and Danny Alexander

Thursday 27th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

The A303 is one of the most notorious transport bottlenecks in the country, and these improvements will have a major impact on the economy in the south-west of England. The Highways Agency will be developing the detailed plans, so we will need to consult on those, including, no doubt with my hon. Friend. This is part of the funding that was set out for between now and 2020 to deliver improvements on that route.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

I welcome the encouraging news about the Trafford Park extension of the Metrolink. Will the Chief Secretary comment on new Homes and Communities Agency regulatory powers that appear to be restricting housing associations’ ability to open up new and commercial income streams, with a knock-on effect on their ability to build more homes?

Comprehensive Spending Review

Debate between Kate Green and Danny Alexander

Thursday 28th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I had planned to give way a few more times, but that intervention took so long that there will not be time to take any more for a while. The spending review is based on one simple principle: cleaning up the mess left behind by the Government of whom the hon. Gentleman was part.

We are making other welfare reforms too. We will cap household welfare payments at the average earnings of working households and we will reform housing benefit so that support better reflects the housing choices that working families have to make. That must be right. The welfare system should provide an effective safety net, but it should not pay workless families far more than most working families earn. That is where benefit traps and dependency start. Our reforms mark an historic shift from dependency to independence. Our measures are tough but fair.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Does the Minister accept that housing benefit is also an in-work benefit? The Government have presented very little evidence that out-of-work families who receive housing benefit live in significantly better conditions than any working family.

[Danny Alexander]

The cap that we propose, which will be debated in due course, is nearly £21,000-worth a year of housing benefit. That is more than equivalent to what most working families have to spend on their housing costs.

Finance Bill

Debate between Kate Green and Danny Alexander

Tuesday 6th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

No party proposed an increase in VAT at the election, and no party ruled one out. The Liberal Democrat manifesto—[Interruption.] If Opposition Members will listen, I will explain the situation. In the Liberal Democrat manifesto, we made it clear that we would seek to reduce the deficit through spending measures alone, unless, on grounds of fairness, it was necessary to increase taxes. That was a clear statement in our election manifesto. The rationale that I have just set out is based on the decision that we made. We felt that, given the £12 billion of extra structural deficit left us by the previous Government, the right decision was a rise in VAT rather than increased spending cuts.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

I am grateful to the Chief Secretary for explaining his approach to fairness. Can he explain why it is fairer to cut spending on public services, on which the poorest rely most, than to use a progressive system of taxation? Why does the balance have to be 20% in favour of taxation and a whopping 80% in favour of public spending cuts?

[Danny Alexander]

In a way, the hon. Lady makes my point for me. The point that I just made is that given the additional £12 billion of structural deficit, as revealed by the OBR forecast, that was left us by the previous Government, we had to decide whether to make £12 billion of further spending cuts or to establish a tax measure to fill the gap. We made the right decision. The tables in the Budget book show that the overall impact on fairness—particularly for children living in poverty, which is a long-standing concern of the hon. Lady’s and on which she has a strong track record—is minimised.

--- Later in debate ---

[Danny Alexander]

No, I am going to make some progress. I have given way a great deal and an awful lot of questions have been asked, and no apology has been heard from any Opposition Member for the dreadful mess they left the economy in.

Fairness in the tax system is also about ensuring that everyone pays their fair share of taxes due. Too many individuals and firms in Britain today exploit the tax system through tax avoidance, a practice that ultimately means the rest of us have to pay more tax. The Bill puts in place measures to protect about £200 million of revenues per annum from tax avoidance. Clause 8 sets out an anti-avoidance measure to prevent matched income and expenses from being derecognised in a company’s accounts. That will ensure that income from financial instruments such as loans and derivatives can no longer be excluded from the accounts and go untaxed.

Clause 9 sets out a further anti-avoidance rule, building on section 47 of the Finance Act 2010 to prevent life insurance companies from avoiding tax on previously unrecognised profits. It will do so by ensuring that section 47 will be effective in cases in which life insurance business is transferred to another company. We will take further measures in future to tackle avoidance. In particular, a consultation on a general anti-avoidance rule was announced in the Budget.

[Kate Green]

How will the welcome measures to reduce tax avoidance be squared with job cuts in HM Revenue and Customs?

[Danny Alexander]

On the plans for HM Revenue and Customs, I am confident that the anti-avoidance measures are deliverable and can be expected to yield the amount that I described.