Contributions
2,217 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSchools Bill [HL]That is very much appreciated. I also pass on to my noble friend the Minister the thanks of the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, for engaging with home educators. I emphasise that we…18 Jul 2022HANSARDSchools Bill [HL]I believe I responded about examination costs. In fact, I had an intervention from the noble Lord, Lord Knight, on it. One of the things I said to him was that in the statutory…18 Jul 2022HANSARDSchools Bill [HL]My Lords, I will start with Amendments 74 and 75, tabled by my noble friend Lord Lucas. The law is clear that parents have a right to educate their children at home, and local…18 Jul 2022HANSARDEnergy (Oil and Gas) Profits Levy BillMy Lords, the investment allowance has been carefully designed to ensure that it incentivises investment but does not provide relief for investment that would have taken place…13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactHer Majesty’s Treasury does not produce fiscal forecasts; the independent Office for Budget Responsibility sets out its projections for the economy, including fiscal indicators,…13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactMy Lords, all I can talk about is this Government’s record, rather than speculating on the future. That is a record of repairing the public finances, protecting jobs during the…13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactMy Lords, I hope the noble Lord will join me in welcoming the better than expected growth figures that we saw today, but he is right we need to continue to invest in our economy.…13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactMy Lords, I think my friends in the other place are doing a good job of campaigning themselves. My understanding is that, although VAT receipts are higher, the fact that…13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactMy Lords, as I said, the Government do not produce fiscal forecasts, the OBR does, and it produces forecasts based on government policy.13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactMy Lords, the Government have taken a number of initiatives in the areas that my noble friend refers to, including the reform of business rates and looking at an online sales tax.…13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactThe noble Lord will know that it is international factors that are driving high rates of inflation, including supply chain disruption after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.…13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactThe noble Baroness says that Covid accounts for part of that. The Covid pandemic caused the biggest recession that we have seen in a generation. The response was the biggest…13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactMy noble friend talked about the impact of the lockdowns. They had a significant economic impact but also a significant social impact—for example, on children who were unable to…13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactI can reassure the noble Lord that the threshold at which the tax is paid is different from that at which the credits towards contributory benefits are earned, so increasing the…13 Jul 2022HANSARDTax Cuts: Fiscal ImpactIt is possible to put more money into people’s pockets—for example, through the national insurance threshold rise—without having a disproportionate impact on inflation. Similarly,…13 Jul 2022HANSARDAmbulance Services and National Heatwave EmergencyMy Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall now repeat in the form of a Statement the Answer given to an Urgent Question asked in the House of Commons today. “Our ambulance…13 Jul 2022HANSARDAmbulance Services and National Heatwave EmergencyMy Lords, there are well-established and well-practised co-ordination and escalation procedures in place to manage cross-system and cross-government impacts at all levels. These…13 Jul 2022HANSARDAmbulance Services and National Heatwave EmergencyMy Lords, as the noble Lord will know very well, we have put increased funding into our social care system, but we also have in place a national discharge task force to drive…13 Jul 2022HANSARDAmbulance Services and National Heatwave EmergencyMy Lords, I am not sure that the Government are responsible for Covid. The pressures that we have seen on ambulances have come since the pandemic; we were seeing a much more…13 Jul 2022HANSARDAmbulance Services and National Heatwave EmergencyThe noble Baroness is right that, as well as additional training and recruitment, retention will be a really important part of the picture. The Government have put in place…13 Jul 2022