Clause 16
Finance (No. 2) Bill
9:30 am
John Healey (Financial Secretary, HM Treasury; Wentworth, Labour)
The hon. Member for Rayleigh(Mr. Francois) describes this provision as a gentle introduction to the VAT section of the Finance Bill. It was not designed as such; it was designed for the fairly narrow purpose of dealing with the definition of a “game of chance”. The simple answer to his direct question is that the Gambling Act does not apply to Northern Ireland, which has its own legislation in that area, although tax legislation does. We propose to draw heavily on the definition of a “game of chance” in the Gambling Act. We have more work to do before we can confirm that, particularly checking with the Northern Ireland Office whether or not there is any inconsistency or potential problem that we have not yet foreseen.
In such circumstances, rushing to confirm the definition when we do not need to at this point does not seem sensible. We will do that by Treasury order later this year. Essentially, we need to complete some technical work in order to do so with a certainty and confidence that means we are much less likely to have to return to the Committee and to the House to put right any technical deficiencies that we could have avoided. That is the purpose of the timetabling in those stages. I hope that that gives the hon. Gentleman the reassurance that he seeks.