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Finance (No. 2) Bill

I am not going to draft a definition on the hoof. If the Government were to postpone the abolition of the HCI, they could consult the industry and come up with a workable definition that would prevent those problems from occurring. It is vital that we ensure that IT skills permeate our community, particularly in relation to the most disadvantaged. Some 300,000 low-income families have benefited from the HCI scheme, many of whom might have experienced difficultly in obtaining credit to buy a PC in the open market. Home computers can also make a huge difference in maintaining a good life-work balance—abolishing the scheme will hit young mums who want to return to work but who need the flexibility to work from home. Why abolish the scheme at a time when the Government demand that more and more of their contact with citizens should take place digitally? On the very day when the end of the HCI scheme was announced, the Chancellor endorsed the Carter report’s proposals to try to force people to file their tax returns electronically by bringing forward the date for filing a paper return to the immensely difficult deadline of 30 September. If the Government really believe that the scheme is being abused, we are happy to work with them on tightening it to prevent such abuse. We urge the Government not the abolish the HCI scheme.