I am sorry that we had such a brief debate on the sittings motion. I was surprised that many Government Members did not express their views. Hopefully, we will hear more from them during the meat—the substance—of the Bill, as we proceed through it. I was hoping that the Minister would take the opportunity to set out to the Committee the substance of Clause 1, but I will make my few brief points first in the hope that he will respond to those and that the Committee will then be able to ask the Minister questions if further issues arise.

As I understand it, clause 1 amends the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 to modernise and update the arrangements for adult placement care and to ensure that the various expenses and tax exemptions are relevant to contemporary circumstances, including the short-term nature of foster care and adult placement care.

As all hon. Members will know from their postbags and Constituency work, being a carer is an enormous commitment requiring a great deal of patience, understanding and hard work. It offers young people and adults who need support because of their health or disability a valuable opportunity to live with people who can give them the help that they need. They can share their hobbies and interests with them, enjoy family life and fulfil their potential to the full.

Of course, given the rather circular nature of the time frame in which we are considering the Bill, the measures have their origin in a Labour Administration. I am proud of the fact that there are measures to clarify and simplify the tax treatment of both foster care and shared lives care, to ensure that the costs, expenses and capital allowances are recognised more fairly by the tax system.

The care, support and accommodation for people who need help owing to a learning, physical and/or sensory disability, or perhaps mental health problems, can be costly. Carers are specially recruited, particularly in respect of shared lives care, to provide services in their own homes. That is a positive initiative because not only does it result in less institutionalisation of those in care but it provides respite breaks for families of carers—or, perhaps, cover that would otherwise cause great strain on families and carers during emergencies.

The arrangement also helps to prepare individuals for independent living and independent lifestyles, so it is proper for the Government and Parliament to support and encourage such arrangements. I want to place on the record my own tribute to those among my constituents and across the country who give their time and efforts to be a carer, either for an adult in the shared lives placement or in foster care. They make an incredibly important contribution.

The definitions are set out and we will discuss the first schedule to the Bill later; that sets out some of the arrangements. My points to the Minister are as follows. Can he tell the Committee how many shared lives care arrangements the reliefs will apply to? It was not clear to me, either from the explanatory notes or from associated discussions on the Bill, how many people and families might be falling underneath those particular taxation arrangements. A bit of context would be useful, if the Minister can gather some inspiration.

In a similar way, I wonder whether any work is being done in the Treasury, the Department for Work and Pensions or other Government Departments to project trends in future volumes that might also exist. It is all very well having a snapshot of how many people we are talking about at one particular time, but given the complexity of the tax relief arrangements, I hope that there will be some methodology or way of predicting what the trends in such arrangements might be. We know from the 1980s care in the community arrangements that over the decades care arrangements can change and evolve. I would expect that this more pioneering form of care—the shared lives placement arrangements—might burgeon and grow in future, so I wonder whether there is facility for that in the Government.

On a technical point, can the Minister say whether the provisions relate to the UK as a whole or only to England? Again, it was not clear to me how the provisions relate. Obviously, certain matters are devolved, but that was a specific point that I thought the Minister might know. I wonder whether the Minister has had any other representations from organisations about associated issues related to the costs of foster care, adoptive care, shared lives placements and so forth. In that respect, there is a series of clauses to the Bill, which are probably some of the most substantive of the legislation.

Hon. Members have made a number of points. I was talking to my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham, for instance. She highlighted casework that she had dealt with about anomalies for parents who are involved in foster and adoptive care. For example, statutory adoption pay is available only to people in full-time employment and not to those in casual or self-employment. There is a whole set of anomalies that needs to be addressed in respect of the treatment of reliefs and the grants available to carers. I will be interested to hear the Minister’s comments on such matters.