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Working Families Tax Credit
2. Mr. John McFall (Dumbarton): What representations he has received from political parties on publicising the working families tax credit in Scotland. [121872]
The Minister of State, Scotland Office (Mr. Brian Wilson): I shall try to speak quickly. The Government are determined to maximise the take-up of working families tax credit, which is why it has been well publicised in Scotland, through television, newspapers and magazines.
Mr. McFall: Is the Minister aware that some of the poorer families to whom I have spoken in the past few weeks are receiving upwards of an extra £60 a week from WFTC? Does he agree that it is one of the main planks of social justice in Scotland and is he proud to be a member of a Government who are trying to take poverty out of Scotland rather than just trying to take Scotland out of the United Kingdom?
Mr. Wilson: I am very proud of the anti-poverty measures being taken by the Government. It is important that people see them as a cohesive philosophy that joins up measures to attack poverty at the root and provides, through educational policies, the means to raise aspirations and give people in our society better prospects. The WFTC could provide help to 130,000 families in Scotland at the significant level that my hon. Friend mentioned. [Interruption.] I have no idea why the SNP sneers at those 130,000 poor families in Scotland. The important point is that of those 130,000, some 99,000 are claiming WFTC. Some 31,000 more families could claim that substantial additional income and if one family sees this broadcast from the House and claims as a result, we will have spent our time well.
Mr. Archy Kirkwood (Roxburgh and Berwickshire): The Minister is right that the WFTC is an important benefit. It has only been paid since October and the Government should do everything they can to publicise eligibility and improve take-up. Will the Minister accept that we should consider not only absolute numbers but the percentage of those who are eligible who claim? The benefit replaced family credit, which had a high take-up, and it would be a shame if WFTC did not reach the same proportion of those eligible. Will he also bear in mind the extreme importance of the success of the new child care tax credit? The old family credit assistance for children was very restrictive and I hope that publicity will also be given to the child care tax credit.
Mr. Wilson: I thank the hon. Gentleman for that constructive contribution. He is absolutely right on all counts, but I can assure him that everyone who was on family credit has moved to WFTC. I can also assure him that by the end of March 10,300 awards had been made of WFTC containing elements of child care tax credit, and that compares favourably with the 4,900 who gained from the child care earnings disregard under the family credit scheme. We have doubled the number benefiting from the child care element and, in general, more people qualify for WFTC. It is a substantial benefit for low-income
families and I want every eligible family to claim it. It should be the job of us all, from whatever party, to ensure that that happens.
Miss Anne Begg (Aberdeen, South): I am sure that my hon. Friend must be as distressed as I am to meet people who still believe that WFTC will not make them better off if they enter work. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Dumbarton (Mr. McFall), I have met families who are between £40 and £60 a week better off, but a few people are still convinced that it would not benefit them. Would not it be better if the SNP, instead of being cynical about WFTC, encouraged those people to get back into work and get out of poverty?
Mr. Wilson: I am not interested in stupid point scoring. I am interested in action and in the money that will be paid to less well off families, as is my hon. Friend. No family with a weekly income below £238 will pay income tax. From June, the figure rises to £245. In April 2001, it will increase to £255. If any such family is paying income tax, it should not be. That is an important message. As a result of the Budget and previous Budgets, a single earner family with two children on £12,500 a year will be £3,000 better off. These are important statistics for low-income families. They should be understood and the benefit should be claimed.
Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley): Will the Minister give a commitment to talk to businesses in Scotland that have to administer the working families tax credit? He will know that the burden of rules and regulations has increased and now amounts to £10 billion since the Government came to power. Smaller businesses find it proportionately more difficult to tackle the problems of the administrative burden. Will he talk to them to ascertain what can be introduced to alleviate the extra burden?
Mr. Wilson: I visit smaller businesses all the time. The issue that the hon. Gentleman has raised is not something that comes up as a big problem. We always try to simplify systems. I think that the vast majority of companies are well attuned to administering such a system. If there are complaints which they want to raise with me, I shall be pleased to discuss them.
Electricity
3. Mr. Michael Connarty (Falkirk, East): If he will make a statement on the Government's plans for the future regulation of electricity supply, generation and distribution in Scotland. [121873]
The Minister of State, Scotland Office (Mr. Brian Wilson): The provisions of the Utilities Bill will put service to consumers at the heart of the regulatory process.
Mr. Connarty: Does my hon. Friend share my pleasure that the Utilities Bill will establish a new and independent Gas and Electricity Consumer Council, which will be responsible for forwarding the interests of the consumer?
My hon. Friend will be aware because I told him that my spouse was caught by basically a mis-selling trick by signing what she thought was an inquiry form for a
transfer from electricity to gas. She found that she had signed a contract. I had eventually to write to Sir Ian Robinson, from whom I received a letter of apology for the mis-selling. Will my hon. Friend assure me that the new independent council will stop rogue mis-selling by agencies that are not part of utilities but receive money for getting people to sign up by basically conning them into signing forms?
Mr. Wilson: I am glad that my hon. Friend acted so effectively on behalf of his constituent. His point speaks for itself. Any form of rogue mis-selling is clearly improper. A strong consumer body will be empowered to consider that sort of practice. It is important also to say that it will have an office in Scotland. The exact structure is being finalised, but we shall have a more effective consumer body to ensure that the consumer interest is at the heart of the entire process.
Mr. Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale): Given the imminent construction of the electricity interconnector from the west coast of Scotland, what plans are there for extra patrols on the foreshore to warn of the washing up of phosphorous devices as a result of the construction?
Mr. Wilson: I am aware of the problem with phosphorous devices. If additional measures are necessary, I shall be happy to hear from the hon. Gentleman. I will take up the matter with the various agencies to ensure that public safety is of paramount importance.
Mr. David Marshall (Glasgow, Shettleston): Does my hon. Friend agree that the cost of electricity and other forms of heating is still far too high for many poor families in Scotland? Will he therefore agree to bring to the notice of his colleagues on the interdepartmental group on fuel poverty the real hardship in terms of health and economic cost that is faced by many thousands of families in Scotland as a result of fuel poverty and the adverse climatic conditions that occur every winter? Does he agree that even more urgent attention needs to be paid to the problem?
Mr. Wilson: I agree with my hon. Friend. It is necessary constantly to ensure that nobody is impoverished by the need to have warm, dry homes. That must be a primary objective of government. I need hardly point out to my hon. Friend that we have done much in this regard by means of insulation programmes and grants, for example. We have also substantially increased the winter fuel allowance for pensioners to £150 next year. However, I would be the last to pretend that there is nothing more to be done. My hon. Friend has a very honourable record of contributing to that debate.
Tax Raising Powers
4. Sir Teddy Taylor (Rochford and Southend, East): If he will meet the Scottish Executive to discuss the implications for the Scottish economy of devolved tax-raising powers. [121875]
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Dr. John Reid): I meet regularly with Scottish Executive Ministers to discuss a range of issues.
Sir Teddy Taylor: Does the Secretary of State agree that an additional rate of income tax, apart from doing economic damage to Scotland, would create a bureaucratic nightmare--particularly, for example, for self- employed organisations that do work both north and south of the border and for people moving house during the year? Will he at least have a discussion with the Scottish Executive to ensure that, before the system is implemented, it will work? Will he personally urge the Scottish Parliament not to get involved in a tartan tax?
Dr. Reid: I always have the feeling that the hon. Gentleman is arguing the case from where he left off when he departed Scotland. All of those issues were settled many years ago, and the Scottish people voted for a tax-raising power. However, it is obvious that if any Scottish Executive wished to implement the power, they would ensure that it worked before going ahead with it. As for the current, Labour-led Scottish Executive, before the Scottish parliamentary elections, the Labour party made it clear that it would not be using that tax-raising power in the first Parliament. The matter, therefore, does not arise in the immediate future.
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