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Finance (No. 2) Bill

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I shall gladly write to the hon. Gentleman on that matter, either one way or the other. As for the impact of the decision, take-up of the HCI scheme was just beginning to take off when the Treasury suddenly and unfortunately announced its abolition. Nearly half a million employees around the country had taken advantage of the scheme to help improve their computer literacy and that of their families, which was part of the point of the scheme. More than 1,000 organisations, including public, private and voluntary sector bodies had begun to use the scheme. More than 100 different NHS trusts and hospitals had done so, including King’s College hospital and even the Sedgefield primary care trust, as had a wide variety of local authorities, a number of which were Labour-run. Many other organisations were also planning to adopt the scheme, including, as we have heard, two Departments. Unfortunately, even for organisations that had already signed up their employees, the benefits will now be time-limited, as once current HCI agreements expire, they cannot be renewed on the same terms. That is confirmed by paragraph 71 of the regulatory impact assessment, which states:"““Changes to the exemptions for computers and mobile phones were announced in the Chancellor’s Budget Statement on 22 March 2006 and will take effect from 6 April 2006. However, those people also participating in schemes based on the law as it applied prior to 6 April will not be affected until the period of their current agreement expires and they enter into a new agreement.””" Therefore, even those people’s HCI schemes will run out when whatever agreement they happen to have signed over the past few years reaches its originally agreed termination date. If clause 61 remains in the Bill, they will not be allowed to renew on those terms.