Clause 55 - Overview

Part of Finance Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 11:00 am on 19 June 2012.

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Photo of John Mann John Mann Labour, Bassetlaw 11:00, 19 June 2012

Clause 55, Mr Bone, and the consequential amendments. In all seriousness, I am developing an argument to support my point. What will the Minister do if, over the next year, unintended consequences emerge that he cannot outline, by definition, because amendments have not been made at the Committee stage? That is the point of comparison with draw-down pensions. The Government and Ministers appear paralysed when acting to correct an error, whether they are hiding behind their red boxes or behind good, earnest civil servants from Brussels. Ministers are hiding away when it comes to correcting a major, technical anomaly created by the previous Budget. They do not know what to do and are therefore not coming forward, even to instigate debate on what we, the legislators, might advise them to do to get out of the hole that they have created.

With this complex area, if unintended consequences emerge in the next 12 months, will the Minister tell the Committee the precise course of action that he will undertake, so that we can be reassured? If we collectively do not spot something in the provisions today, but a problem emerges later because of the technical complexity, we need a guarantee that the Minister will bring the matter to the House instantly to give us the opportunity to correct any errors.