Clause 11
Finance Bill
2:45 pm
Paul Goodman (Shadow Minister (Childcare), Treasury; Wycombe, Conservative)
Yes, I acknowledge what the hon. Gentleman said, but it is important to consider the combined effect.
The work and non-work problems are obvious. Farmers living in the countryside who need band G vehicles for work—for cattle trailers, for example—are not people living in urban areas who do not need band G vehicles for whatever work they do. The National Farmers Union claims that British agriculture and horticulture underpin £90 billion of our economy, help to provide 5 million jobs and involve approximately £400 million of unpaid conservation work. I will not list in detail the contribution that both make to the small business sector, to animal welfare standards and to reducing carbon emission by providing local food. Those working needs are clearly serious.
It is worth noting—inevitably we have received representations to this effect, as the Financial Secretary will also have done—that an off-road band G vehicle used infrequently for work purposes will produce fewer emissions than an on-road band C vehicle used frequently for work purposes. As for non-work purposes, such as leisure and caring responsibilities, the considerations that have already been discussed in relation to remote areas apply, to some degree, so I will not go over all of those again.
I do not want to anticipate the debate on clause 105, but I want to ask the Financial Secretary one question: will he investigate, or is he already investigating, the practicality of allowing an exemption for one band G vehicle? Since all farm holdings must be registered, the argument is that such a system would be relatively straightforward to administer and it would tend to favour smaller holdings, because on the whole they have fewer vehicles. Also, does the Treasury plan to produce, in relation to this year’s rise, any estimate of how many farmers will switch from band G vehicles to light goods vehicles that are more lightly taxed even though they may be more polluting? I look forward to hearing the Financial Secretary’s reply.