National Minimum Wage

Lord Stoneham of Droxford Excerpts

Monday 19th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Courtown]

My Lords, the whole policy of this Government is to create the right environment for businesses to succeed and to create more jobs. In the previous Parliament, the main rate of corporation tax was cut from 28% to 20%. In this Parliament, the Government will go further and cut the rate of corporation tax to 19% in 2017 and 18% in 2020. These cuts will benefit over 1 million businesses. They will save businesses £6.6 billion by 2021 and give the UK the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G20, supporting investment, productivity and growth.

[Lord Stoneham of Droxford (LD)]

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, those in work, on benefits and receiving tax credits will receive only 25% compensation through the advanced minimum wage, assuming that they keep their jobs. What advice are the Government giving to these hard-working families on how they should cope with this cut in their standard of living?

[The Earl of Courtown]

My Lords, the noble Lord is only too well aware of the issue, since he was part of the party that joined us in coalition in the previous Government that reduced claimants of tax credits from nine out of 10 families to six out of 10 families. The fact is that we are doubling free childcare for working parents—we are giving 30 hours of free childcare—and we are also introducing tax-free childcare from 2017.