That is a welcome intervention. I welcome the Minister to her place, as she has wide experience in this area. I understand that she was the longest-serving Conservative public health Minister. She can bring that experience to bear, not least because she has added responsibilities, given the make-up of the limited number of Ministers on the Treasury Bench, to cover those aspects of what some might call sin taxes and to create a better overall review. That can be linked up with what we look forward to receiving from the Government: the long-awaited life chances strategy. Be it on the social justice strategy, social reform strategy or life chances strategy, we must ensure that we focus on the poorest and most disadvantaged, who are particularly badly affected by high-strength ciders and other issues that have been mentioned.
High-strength ciders are usually about 7.5% alcohol by volume, they are sold in three-litre bottles and they contain 22.5 units of alcohol. That is over 50% more than the Government’s weekly limit guideline, just in a single container. The leading brands are Diamond White and White Ace. The price means that heavy drinkers of white cider can spend only a third as much on alcohol as low-risk drinkers would spend. These low-strength ciders and high-strength ciders range between 1.2% and 7.5% ABV, but we need to focus on the white ciders, because at the moment the tax is based on volume rather than strength. That has an impact on behaviours. Obviously, it has an impact on the behaviour of manufacturers. When they look at incentives and what they produce, they may say, “Let’s just go for volume. We won’t then be hit on strength.” There is not a similarity with the beer regime, which has that grading, and that has an impact, not least on what products come out. Unsurprisingly, on the high street there is much more of a market for lower-strength beer and different qualities of lower-strength beer. Meanwhile, there is a wide range of mainstream ciders, but no impact in duty terms on high-strength ciders.
In considering the impact of high-strength ciders, we should perhaps discuss Glasgow and Edinburgh where, I understand, 25% of alcohol treatment services patients
drink white cider. Of those, 45% drink white cider exclusively, so this is a huge issue whether in Glasgow or Edinburgh, where there is a significant problem with high-dependency drinkers, or in London or elsewhere.
I am sure hon. Members will know of constituents who are particularly dependent on this harmful drink, which is the drink of choice for many a harmful drinker. Indeed, the chief executive of Thames Reach, Jeremy Swain, has said that 78% of deaths among his clients can be traced back to high-strength drinks such as white cider. That is a shocking statistic that needs to be out there. I implore the Minister, perhaps when she considers future Budgets, to look at what is happening, and why. Efforts have been made in relation to manufacturers and others—she will be aware of this from her previous role—to sort things out and become responsible, and it has to be said that retailers have done that: Heineken and Bulmers have withdrawn their white cider brands as they believe them to be socially irresponsible. That is to be welcomed and we should praise those companies.
Furthermore, retailers such as Costcutter, Morrisons, Nisa and Spar have acknowledged the problems associated with those products and reduced their stocking and promotion of white cider, but if hon. Members come to Green Lanes in my constituency, although they will not get near any of those established off-licences, they will see that high-strength ciders are readily available. They are, sadly, targeted at the heavy drinkers, who are more likely to have those white ciders. Also—this is based on evidence that needs wider debate and review—they are more responsive to the cheapest price for alcohol.
Those supporting such a review and such a measure are indeed those responsible retailers and manufacturers, as well as the health sector—those who see the impacts of liver disease and the changes brought about by lack of accessibility to and an increased price for such products. In addition, alcohol treatment charities, various parts of the drinks industry and dependent drinkers themselves have also made the point that they recognise the impact of having an increased price.
It is indeed time for the Government to provide additional reassurance that there will be a honed focus on the issue in future Budgets, as well as a wider review of the impact of high-strength alcohol, particularly with respect to cider duty and targeting on white cider sales. As the Minister said, we must always be proportionate in the way we handle duties and ensure that people are not unduly impacted when they either buy or go out for a cider, but these measures would not impact on most mainstream ciders of between 4% and 5% ABV.
On the issue of simplification, which was alluded to earlier, these measures would bring such products into line with the treatment of beer. Since 2011, there have been three tiers of beer duty, with low rates on low-strength beers and high rates on high-strength beers, so why do not the Government, to achieve simplicity, clarity and coherence, make similar provision in relation to ciders, particularly because of the impact of high-strength ciders on the poorest?
The Government have rightly put social justice at the heart of all they do, and that must include this area, where the spotlight of social justice must also shine in preventing harmful drinking. I look forward to the Minister perhaps adding a few words of support for a targeted increase in the price of high-strength cider, or
at least agreeing to look at the issue again seriously in time for the next Budget so as to help the vulnerable and end the anomaly to which I have referred. That would recognise these proposals as part of a wider review of the important issue of alcohol duties and their relationship to harm.
Moving on, another issue has been of interest during previous debates on Finance Bills, and I wish to bring a strong focus to bear on it by speaking to new clause 3, which stands in my name and the names of 15 of my right hon. and hon. Friends. Indeed, others have indicated to me their support for a review of the marriage and civil partnerships transferable tax allowance. I want to comment particularly on low-income households, especially couples with young children. It would be very progressive if the Government were to focus on achieving more take-up—I welcome the Minister’s comments on that—and arriving at a more significant amount, which would disproportionately impact on lower-income households.
I welcome the introduction of the transferable allowance for married people and civil partners last April, so, unlike in previous debates, I will not, along with my hon. Friends, be imploring the Government to establish such an allowance in the tax system. We have that. That battle has been won and that promise has been kept. There is that recognition of marriage in the tax system, and it is evidence-based: the institution of marriage is valuable as it helps individuals to build social resilience, improves mental wellbeing and aids healthy relationships, particularly with children. I shall not dwell on that past battle because, as the Minister said at the Dispatch Box, she also, on behalf of the Government, is wholly committed to that transferable allowance. It is here to stay under this Government, which is wholly welcome and I very much appreciate it. If any other hands got on the tiller, I am sure that it could be under threat.
However, we must not sit back and be content. The bauble is there and we have recognised marriage, but we need to look, as we do across Government, at how that measure will impact on poorer households. Indeed, we need to consider incentives, including financial incentives, and disincentives around different couple relationships and penalties that still exist. I believe that we must prevent marriage, with its particular social benefits, which have been evidenced, from becoming the preserve of the more wealthy.
I am sure that Members from across the House will join me in not being content with the fractured society that is based around relationships breaking down. We must do all we can to support couples to stay together, particularly those with children, and consider the impact on children when couples do not stay together. Evidence states very clearly that the children of married couples, who have grown up with them, are better served by the fact that the couple stay together.
I recognise that there are different incentives and this is not all about the tax allowance. A range of support can be given to keep couples together, although that is perhaps the subject of another debate for another time. However, we can play our part through fiscal incentives. I recall a recent speech from the former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, who spoke about an issue that we often discuss. We pray in aid the fact that we are a party of one nation and that we want to build a country of one
nation. Interestingly, Lord Sacks referred to the fact that there is a growing phenomenon of two nations, which he saw in terms of a failure to support marriage creating two nations with two very different sets of life chances. As the Government build on their strategy, we should not ignore this issue, and immediately the life chances strategy is published, I shall be doing research on the word “marriage” and how much we are supporting marriage.
It is important to heed the words of Lord Sacks. He said:
“In Britain today more than a million children will grow up with no contact whatsoever with their fathers. This is creating a divide within societies the like of which has not been seen since Disraeli spoke of ‘two nations’ a century and a half ago. Those who are privileged to grow up in stable loving association with the two people who brought them into being will, on average, be healthier physically and emotionally. They will do better at school and at work. They will have more successful relationships, be happier and live longer.”
We should not allow that to be the preserve of one part of the nation. We can play our part fiscally to ensure that we are not divided and that many gain the opportunities derived from couples being together.
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I want to focus on how we can get more out of the money that the Government have earmarked for the allowance. There was a low take-up, as the Minister mentioned in her opening remarks, but following a good marketing campaign, take-up has increased and the millionth application for the allowance will shortly be made. I am sure that basic rate taxpayers watching this debate will want to apply for it if they have not already done so. I am pleased about that, but there has been a huge underspend in the Government’s original budget for the transferable allowance, which essentially allocated £495 million to support marriage in the tax system. This is a partial allowance from earlier iterations and there is less transferability, but it is still a significant sum.
There is, however, a gap. The funding that was initially allocated was not taken up. Even if, as the Minister announced today, the millionth couple are about to take up that allowance, that would account for about £210 million, if those couples all keep taking that payment. That is considerably less than half the amount originally allocated for the policy. Given that we are in challenging financial times, how can we get more out of this principled £500 million commitment from the Government? How can we ensure take-up by those who most need it? Can the Government increase the current level of just over £4 a week, and what should the level be?
Like the hon. Member for Ilford North, I am thinking of the Prime Minister’s words on the steps of No.10, when she said:
“When it comes to taxes, we’ll prioritise not the wealthy, but you.”
We should focus on ordinary working-class families, not only on those who are not taking up the allowance, and on greater incentives for those who are. We need to reduce the financial inaccessibility of marriage for many. I encourage hon. Members to look at new clause 3. It is mindful of current financial constraints and aims to
make better use of the money allocated, targeting it at married couples and civil partners who need that additional support.
A campaign that has been run for many years by CARE and the Centre for Social Justice focuses on married families with children under five. It is those families in particular that the allowance would help. Reports such as “The 1001 Critical Days” have focused on the crucial early days and years. The allowance would promote stability and support child development when it is most needed.
The allowance is a progressive form of tax. Immediately after the Budget, people often ask what the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinks of it. What does the IFS think of the transferable allowance and my new clause? Back in 2010, the IFS made the point that 75% of the benefit from increasing the personal allowance went to the top half of the income distribution band. Raising the personal allowance to £12,500 will place upward pressure on the 75% figure, resulting in an even greater proportion going to the top half of the income distribution band.
I welcome the personal allowance and the commitment to it. That is a wholly good measure, but other forms of allowance such as the transferable allowance should not be seen as a mere bauble. It should be seen in its proper context as progressive and as helping low-income households. The IFS has said that in contrast to the personal allowance, 70% of the benefit of the transferable allowance goes to those in the lower half of the income distribution bands. That is a socially just approach to dealing with allowances. The Government are encouraged to look at that carefully.
I asked the IFS whether it still agreed with the 2010 interpretation of the figures in its analysis. The analysis shows that the beauty of the transferable allowance is that whatever its transferability—whether the small transferability at present, the greater transferability that I encourage the Government to pursue, or indeed 100% transferability—it would help stay-at-home families who are impacted by the present tax burden, particularly the high marginal tax rate. The IFS says that it will continue to result in approximately 70% of the money secured for the transferable allowance going to those in the lower half of the income distribution band. That has to be borne in mind.
I encourage the Government not to look at the marriage tax allowance in isolation as simply a commitment that we have delivered. It needs to be seen in a wider context as part of an international tax comparison. CARE showed that the UK tax burden placed on a one-earner married couple with two children on an average wage is 25% greater than the average across the OECD. By looking at that broader context we can see that we need to support the transferable allowance. The previous Prime Minister thought it was a staging post and that we should increase it. I think we should increase it in terms of money and the percentage of transferability. If we cannot go that far immediately, let us focus on those who would particularly benefit and feel the impact—couples with young children.