“(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within six months of this Act being passed—

(a) conduct a review of business taxes, and

(b) lay before the House of Commons a report setting out recommendations arising from the review.

(2) The review must make recommendations on how to—

(a) use business taxes to encourage and increase the investment of profits and revenue; and

(b) ensure businesses have more certainty about the taxes to which they are subject.

(3) In this section, ‘business taxes’ includes any tax in respect of which this Act makes provision that is paid by a business.”—

This new clause would require the Chancellor to conduct a review of business taxes, and to make recommendations on how to increase certainty and investment, before the next Finance Bill is published.

Brought up, and read the First time.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

To support growth, innovation and investment, we require a competitive tax environment for business. New clause 10 would require the Chancellor, within six months of the Bill being passed, to conduct a review of business and lay before the House a report setting out recommendations arising from the review, including recommendations on how to use business tax to encourage and increase the investment of profits and revenue, and on how to ensure that businesses have certainty about the taxes to which they are subject.

A common theme throughout the Committee has been the impact of the measures in the first Labour Budget for 14 years. Sadly, we know that that Budget and this Finance Bill introduce tax increases of around £40 billion a year—it is the biggest tax-raising Budget in modern history. It is businesses that are bearing the brunt, including the £25 billion a year through the jobs tax that the Government repeatedly promised during the election not to introduce.

The Government said that their priority is growth. We heard more about their plans yesterday, but we did not hear much about how their plans would deliver more growth in this Parliament, rather than in the long term. While that is welcome, I think people are also interested in the here and now. Having inherited the fastest-growing economy in the G7, the OBR then downgraded the growth rate by 0.7% in its forecast, as a result of the measures in the Budget. We have seen borrowing costs rise to the highest level for 27 years, inflation is above target and business confidence is plummeting. That latter point is what lies behind the new clause.

Although I am very much in support of reviews, and the OBR is the right body to conduct ongoing reviews of the impact of taxation on growth, does the hon. Gentleman want to set out any direction in which the Opposition might want to take business taxes? If there is a certain direction, where will the costs and savings come from?

Would that we had the happy chance to be sitting in the Treasury making the policy decisions. It is the Chancellor who will bring forward another fiscal event, and who may have to take some action to deal with the impact of her Budget. This is about what the Government will do and the review that they conduct and bring forward.

Business confidence is essential for investment, but it has been damaged by this Government, when they first came in, talking down the economy. We now hear a much more positive tone talking about our strengths, and the strong fundamentals of our economy, which were all points that the Opposition made throughout our period in office. We encouraged the Government to do the same when they came in, but they wanted to talk about a fantasy black hole and the worst economic inheritance, which has done a lot of damage to our economy.

The latest Confederation of British Industry growth indicator shows that private sector firms expect a significant fall in activity over the next three months. The latest purchasing managers’ index flash shows that one in four businesses have cut jobs due to employment costs. The Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales in December fell by 43%. This is a worrying state of affairs and any Members who speak to businesses will have heard the deep concerns over the hiking costs of employing people, the cut in business rate support for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses, and other measures.

The Budget put up taxes on entrepreneurs and wealth creators, and it is driving people who create wealth away from our country. The energy profits levy puts at risk 35,000 jobs in Scotland and the North sea. The family business tax, which was launched without any warning, has had a highly damaging impact on family farms and other family firms. That is why a review of business taxation is so necessary, with the objective of not only encouraging an increase in investment but providing certainty for firms. The Minister has spoken repeatedly about certainty, so I hope he will feel able to support the new clause.

I support what the shadow Minister said, almost word for word. My career has been in business, and in my two days sitting in the Committee, I have been appalled by what seems to be tax increase upon tax increase. Small and medium-sized businesses across the UK are on their knees and we have done a catastrophic job since the Budget in ruining things for businesses.

New clause 10 would make changes to require the Government to conduct a review of business taxes, and make recommendations on how to increase business certainty and investment, before the next Finance Bill is published.

The Government do not support the new clause. The Government keep all taxes, including taxes paid by businesses, under ongoing review. At the autumn Budget, the Government published their corporate tax road map to provide certainty to businesses about the areas of the business tax system they intend to keep stable, and the areas they intend to review over the course of this Parliament.

The Government have also committed to a review of the business rates system. At the autumn Budget, the Government published a discussion paper that set out the Government’s priority areas for reform of the business rates tax system. The Government have therefore already set out areas of the business rates system where they will provide stability. Given our existing processes and recent commitments, I ask the hon. Member to withdraw the new clause.

That was a disappointing response from the Minister, if not predictable.

Unpredictable, you mean.

Sorry—it has been a long afternoon.

We need to provide certainty, and the new clause was intended to be constructive. It would frame the next fiscal event so as to address all the issues that businesses have been talking to us about. There are issues with business confidence, and yesterday we saw more companies laying people off. This is a serious time, and we need the Government to listen to what is happening, so I intend to press the new clause to a Division.

Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

The Committee divided: Ayes 6, Noes 9.

Question accordingly negatived.