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Finance (No. 2) Bill

I agree with my hon. Friend. We are looking to the Government this evening for some indication, when the Paymaster General replies, that they intend to retain the scheme, even in a modified form. We are not saying that there can be no change. However, we want an indication from the Minister that if the Government believe that there is abuse, they will modify the scheme to respond to that while maintaining its inherently positive characteristics. I shall press the Paymaster General on exactly that point in a moment. The scheme has proved popular, with about half a million people taking advantage of it effectively to hire a computer from their employer to help to improve their IT skills as part of a modern knowledge-based economy. This is especially important when we are seeking to improve IT skills to allow the UK to continue to compete with economies such as China and India in the 21st century. According to a recent analysis carried out by Hewlett-Packard, China and India between them now produce more than 120,000 IT graduates each year. How are we to compete effectively with that if we are bringing in measures to reduce the spread of IT literacy among our population, which is what the proposed change threatens to do? A Cabinet Office press release was timed to coincide with the launch of the new initiative in January 2004. It highlighted survey findings that employees with a PC at home had better IT skills and were more familiar with the internet. The DTI guidelines on HCI were entitled, ““Maximising Potential in the Workplace””. Along with advice on implementing the scheme, numerous references were made to skills. For example, in the CBI’s booklet, Sir Digby Jones was quoted as follows:"““Of all the workforce skills required today, there’s no question that basic IT literacy is one of the most important . . . Getting IT into the DNA of the workforce must therefore be a primary objective for every organisation that wants to adapt to the high-skills economy of the future.””"