Part of Finance Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 3:45 pm on 10 May 2007.
Julia Goldsworthy
Shadow Chief Secretary To the Treasury, Treasury
3:45,
10 May 2007
I need say no more. The concern is that the council ends up locked into the decision, which has already been taken, yet the impact of the landfill tax will continue to have an effect and place pressure on council tax. There are difficulties, and I wonder whether the Financial Secretary has considered an alternative, such as a waste tax, which would encourage local authorities not only to divert from landfill, but proactively to encourage recycling. He might also consider measures to deal with packaging at the point of production, rather than work out how to deal with it at the other end. The provisions are useful for dealing with landfill, but there are limitations to what they can achieve. They can be improved, and I hope that the Minister’s mind is open to pursuing those improvements.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
