Finance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)

Stephen Kerr Excerpts

Tuesday 16th January 2018 Public Bill Committees

[Alison Thewliss]

The hon. Gentleman knows that we have been arguing this case in this House since we got here. I was in this very room—in this very spot—when my colleague Roger Mullin made this argument in July 2015. We tabled amendments to the Finance Bill 2015 and to each subsequent Finance Bill, and we have made this argument on numerous occasions here and in the Chamber. We are glad about the change, but we think it is only good, right and fair that it is backdated to reflect the fact that the argument has stood all along.

It is interesting that the Scottish Conservatives have tried to claim that this is some great victory, but the Government’s Red Book, at the top of page 39, speaks of combined authorities in England and Wales being eligible for VAT refund, so I would contend that the Government were almost caught out by this. They had to make the change for Scotland because they were going to make the change for England and Wales, whereupon the argument became utterly compelling and there was no other way for them to get themselves out of the hole. I am very glad indeed that they are doing it.

[Stephen Kerr (Stirling) (Con)]

I interrupt the hon. Lady in her flow only to congratulate her on the convolutions of her argument. Frankly, it could be easily argued the other way round.

[Alison Thewliss]

The arguments are as compelling today as they were in 2015, in 2012, or at any other point. The coincidence of it having to be done for certain fire services in certain combined authorities in England and Wales makes the case that this should have been done all along.

We welcome this measure. We tabled our new clause, which we will press to a vote at the appropriate stage, because we would like to see some more detail about the administrative consequences and the impact on revenue of allowing retrospective claims. We know that the Government will do things in retrospect—other parts of the Bill enable them to enforce regulations relating to tax avoidance and claim money back in retrospect—so there is no argument that moneys cannot be claimed back if people should have known about them before. The Government are willing to make allowances and make changes if there are things that people might or might not have reasonably known. They have made such changes in other parts of the Finance Bill. We have received lots of correspondence from people who feel as though they have been hard done by a measure the Government are introducing now, which they see as retrospective and unfair. If the Government are allowing retrospective measures elsewhere, why will they not allow it here so that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland get the money they have been due all along?