Proceeding contribution from Baroness Primarolo (Labour) in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 5 July 2006. It occurred during Debate on bill on Finance (No 2) Bill.
Finance (No. 2) Bill
I shall come to the hon. Lady’s points and, if necessary, give way then. The investment for the groups that my hon. Friend mentioned was specifically addressed in the digital review and the Low Pay Commission report. I shall come to those points when I have finished explaining why the scheme was not appropriate. It was the correct time for the Government to remove the exemption and better focus support on the groups of people in our community that my hon. Friend mentioned, so as to increase access to technology for the poorest, the unemployed, the elderly and the low paid. Salary sacrifice schemes cannot provide that access. During proceedings in the Committee of the whole House, I announced that we would establish a dedicated digital inclusion team. That team has now been set up by the Department for Communities and Local Government, and is working closely with the City of London Corporation. It will champion examples of excellence in using highly effective and efficient information and communication technology to tackle the key drivers of exclusion. It will also promote leadership and understanding and inform decisions. I also announced that the Government would change the aims and objectives of the digital strategy to focus on digital inclusion. The Treasury will collaborate closely with industry on meeting the goals of the digital strategy, building on the success of more than 6,000 UK online centres—more than half of which are located in the 2,000 most deprived wards in England. Some 90 per cent. of the population lives within 5 km of one of those centres, and that is precisely the type of investment that is needed to reach those groups. It is stunning that every time the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy) is asked about the Liberal Democrats’ spending commitments, we are told that they have a commission and are thinking about it. Then she berates the Government for investment in making progress on tackling social exclusion—
Secondary information
- Type
- Proceeding contribution
- Reference
- 448 c864
- Session
- 2005-06
- Chamber / Committee
- House of Commons chamber
- Subjects
- Accountancy Companies Decommissioning British Nuclear Fuels Corporation tax Computers Climate change levy Fraud EU countries Income tax Film Exemptions Excise duties EU internal trade Income Equipment Investment trusts Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Nuclear power stations Property Registration Tax allowances Tax avoidance Taxation VAT Real estate investment trusts
- Legislation
- Finance (No. 2) Bill 2005-06
- Link
- View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk
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