Finance Bill

The hon. Gentleman makes a strong point, and I shall come to that issue. If the Government are relying on tax credits to soften the blow of the abolition of the 10p band, they must do something to improve the way in which the system works and to raise take-up rates. That is critical if we are not to see the hardship caused by the Budget becoming really significant. In making changes to tax rates and assessing their impact on different income groups, the Chancellor should bear in mind the pattern of poverty in 21st century Britain. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, poverty among adults without dependent children—a group significantly affected by the tax changes in the Budget—is now at its highest point since records began in 1961. That group now makes up one third of the total of Britain’s poor. A number of deeply worrying points emerged from the most recent Department for Work and Pensions figures on poverty, covering the period between 2004-05 and 2005-06. These were analysed by the IFS and show that relative poverty and income inequality actually got worse last year. The number of people in relative poverty rose from 12.1 million to 12.8 million. A range of measures demonstrates the recent increase in inequality of income. The most commonly used measurement, the Gini coefficient, tells us that income inequality has increased in total during the Chancellor’s 10 years at No. 11 Downing street. The DWP figures also show that the number of people living in absolute poverty rose by 400,000 to 7.4 million—12.6 per cent. of the population—last year. There are more people in deep poverty now than when the Chancellor entered Downing street. There are 600,000 more people on less than 40 per cent. of median income now than there were in 1997, and the poor are getting poorer. Recent Government data show that the real incomes of the poorest 20 per cent. actually fell last year. Many people—not just those on this side of the House—have expressed concern about this state of affairs and about the impact of the Budget on tackling poverty. The right hon. Member for Birkenhead today repeated his concerns about the impact of the Budget on those on low incomes, but he was not alone among his Labour colleagues in expressing anxiety. As the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) acknowledged, the Budget neglected poorer people who have no children. The hon. Member for Coventry, North-West (Mr. Robinson) has pointed out that the Budget is hurting many people whom the Government never set out to hurt, and the right hon. Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn) admitted in the Budget debate last year that, under Labour,"““poverty has become more entrenched.””—[Official Report, 28 March 2006; Vol. 444, c. 710.]" Turning to the point raised by the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie), in assessing the impact of tax changes on different decile groups, it is critical to look at the marginal rates of taxation that they face, as they have a significant impact on incentives to work and to emerge from benefit dependency. Mike Warburton of Grant Thornton said after the Budget:"““Families on low incomes will really lose out because they will pay a marginal rate of tax at 70 per cent. starting from an earlier point.””" With the abolition of the 10p band and the increase in the tax credit withdrawal rate, the Budget leaves many low-income families with marginal tax rates of even more than 70 per cent., as their benefits are withdrawn with each extra pound they earn. Of course, such rates make it much harder to escape the poverty trap. In conducting an assessment of this issue in relation to different income groups, the Chancellor must take into account the interaction with the tax credit system. To return to the point made in an intervention by the right hon. Member for Birkenhead, one of the ways in which we can help those who are hit hard by the Budget is to get the tax credit system to work effectively, and to reform it so that we grapple with the chaos that has characterised it over the past couple of years. As Francesca Largerberg of the Institute of Chartered Accountants said after the Budget:"““It is now seemingly necessary for those with incomes between £5,225 and £18,605 to get to grips with the tax credit system and claim in order to negate their losses.””" Both the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary have defended the abolition of the 10p band on the ground that tax credits will compensate some of the families affected. As I have set out, however, not everyone qualifies for tax credits, and as we heard from the hon. Member for Dundee, East, not everyone claims them. As Ms Largerberg went on to explain:"““Tax credits may in some cases claw back lost income but they are often difficult to claim and some lower earners may not be eligible””." The figures for the uptake of working tax credit among childless households—as we have established, a group significantly affected by the loss of the 10p band—are as low as 25 per cent. of the total entitlement and only 19 per cent. of eligible claimants. If the effect of a tax increase is to push more people into the tax credit system, one must assess the way in which the system is working to analyse properly the impact of the change proposed. The latest available figures show a depressing picture. Of 5 million payments made, more than 2 million were overpaid and almost 1 million were underpaid, which means that more than half the payments in the system were wrong. At least £200 million has been lost through fraud. The tax credit website had to be taken offline because of wholesale attack by fraudsters. As the Chief Secretary will be well aware, every MP has had constituents coming to advice surgeries to explain their desperate problems with huge bills for overpayment that they simply cannot afford to meet. The former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) said:"““The tax credit system is a shambles—such a shambles that I’ve had to help out one of my constituents financially, only the second time that I ever have done this, and the first was for a child. I don’t know if I will get the money back. I suppose it is a foolish thing to do, and it has to be on the pain of death that they don't tell people. But what else can you do when the tax credit system is such a total mess?””" Sir John Bourn, the Comptroller and Auditor General, said:"““People have been helped, but why do that in a way which causes such misery? And we’ve spent far more than necessary because we’ve had to write off the hundreds of millions of pounds we simply can’t get back.””" The right hon. Member for Birkenhead has said:"““Tax credits are clearly the bluntest of anti-poverty weapons and are the equivalent of attempting delicate key hole surgery with a hacksaw.””" To conclude, it is regrettable that the Chancellor has taken so long to answer the questions tabled by the right hon. Member for Birkenhead regarding how his Budget has impacted on different groups. That is further proof that the kind of serious and thoughtful assessment of the impact of tax rises on different income deciles envisaged by new clause 14 was very far from the Chancellor’s mind in preparing his Budget. He was so desperate to grab the headlines with his basic rate tax cut con that he was prepared to do anything to achieve it, even if that meant hardship for people grappling with poverty, low incomes, falling living standards, problem debt and rising interest rates. Because he wanted to pull a fast one during the Budget debate, the 10p band had to go. Of all the critical comment that followed the Budget debate, that of a former Member of this House, Michael Portillo, writing in The Sunday Times about the closing seconds of the Chancellor’s Budget speech, summed up the position most effectively:"““30 seconds of theatre…had made poorer all those on low incomes who pay tax only or mainly at 10 per cent. Some will be compensated with tax credits, but not all. The chancellor cannot explain why he once thought that the lowest earners needed protection…but now has changed his mind. Those at the bottom of the pile have been sacrificed for the sake of a quick laugh. Politics, it seems, is but a game played with people’s lives. It is astonishing that a chancellor who has worked with some success to redistribute income has, in his last budget, penalised the poorest but rewarded higher rate taxpayers.””"