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Finance (No. 2) Bill

My understanding is that that scheme is in place. Indeed, we heard earlier that the Danish scheme was abolished and then brought back, because it was missed. We have to ask why the HCI is being abolished. I suspect that the Treasury was looking to save a few hundred million pounds, and that the HCI caught the eye of someone there. That is a great pity, but perhaps there is also another reason. The Chancellor has been associated with various polices, such as the individual learning account. He was criticised for being very slow in identifying fraud and misuse of the ILA, and he resisted getting rid of it. I wonder whether the question of not allowing the HCI to continue was a sensitive issue for the Treasury. None the less, the Government’s scrapping of that scheme was a panicky overreaction. There should have been consultation and we should have addressed the real concerns, but that has not happened.