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Finance (No. 2) Bill

I did not know that, although it does not surprise me. Although the HCI had some success, times change and we must move on. It is unfortunate that the HCI appears to have been axed overnight rather than its withdrawal being phased over a year. It is entirely proper for the Treasury to examine whether a tax measure produces a certain effect and whether that effect could be produced through the better use of taxpayers’ money. The Opposition would rightly berate any Government who introduced a measure to help with skills and who did not change it for years and years rather than keeping it under review to see whether it worked, whether behaviour changed as a consequence of it and whether they should put taxpayers’ money into something else.