---

Finance (No. 2) Bill

I am grateful to you, Mr. O’Hara, for allowing me to contribute to this debate. This is a novel experience for me on two counts. This is the first time since joining this House that I have attended a debate in which the Government are insisting on scrapping a successful measure; in my experience, they usually seek to abandon failed initiatives that they have introduced during their tenure. To witness them abandoning a successful one is surprising, to say the least. I am pleased that the Paymaster General has an opportunity today to diffuse criticism of this penny-pinching, revenue-retaining measure by making a positive announcement on digital inclusion. In my experience, the Paymaster General is usually asked to defend the indefensible on the Chancellor’s behalf, but today she is able to announce some good news. However, it is a classic new Labour move: on the one hand, we are debating a measure, the withdrawal of which will save the Treasury £300 million over three years; on the other, Labour is sweetening the pill with a £50 million new initiative, but it is merely a sleight of hand to try and distract attention from the bigger issue. Having said that, I welcome the digital inclusion initiative and I should like to comment briefly on it, given that the Paymaster General introduced it into this debate. I hope that the new cross-departmental unit will address the severe shortcomings of the digital TV footprint. It is claimed that digital TV will reach 98.5 per cent. of the population. Given that the Paymaster General has taken an interest in this subject, I will send to her and to whoever is responsible for running the new unit a map that the Shropshire Star helpfully provided. It shows the area along the Welsh marches that would be excluded from digital TV coverage. That area includes most of the western half of my constituency and all the area classified as an area of outstanding natural beauty, which amounts to about 80 per cent. of south Shropshire district. I look forward to hearing about the measures that this magnificent new unit will implement to provide coverage for my constituents. I want to speak to amendment No. 2 to clause 61. The home computing initiative has encouraged home-working, and before I illustrate this issue with some comments about my constituents, I want briefly to highlight some of the non-financial benefits that derive from home working of which the Paymaster General may not be aware. BT, one of the largest employers in the country, has undertaken research among its work force. It states:"““People working from home are 7 per cent. happier than their office-based colleagues””." So there is a happiness quotient to this issue. The research also noted that there is"““20 per cent. less absenteeism than the national average””" among such people, on account of BT’s home-working policy. These non-financial but none the less important factors are being put at risk by this penny-pinching Government measure. There are 8 million people working from home, who—