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Proceeding contribution from Baroness Drake (Labour) in the House of Lords on Monday, 10 October 2011. It occurred during Debate on bill and Committee proceeding on Welfare Reform Bill.


Welfare Reform Bill

I do not accept that defence because tax relief on pension savings is not taking money away from people; it is giving them their tax back. The other point is that even on ISAs, those who are well off can take every member of their family, their spouse and children, and give them ISAs, thus taking taxpayers’ money for the incentivised advantage that that brings. So the taxpayer supports all sorts of people, some of whom are more worthy than others. On that basis, if the exam question is whether the taxpayer should support someone who has £50,000, I should like to get the whole list of incentivised savings and do some comparative analysis. The effect of this policy is that people in hard-working families will be disincentivised to save and will face greater risk in managing a labour market that the Government themselves want to deregulate further but do not want to support people in managing that deregulated labour market. As my noble friend Lady Sherlock has said, there is not just the issue of the £16,000. For all those low and moderate-income people who have more than £6,000—


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
730 c417-8GC 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords Grand Committee
Subjects
Capital rules Jobseeker's allowance Eligibility Income Individual savings accounts Personal savings Low incomes Payments Property transfer Property Maternity benefits Social security benefits Welfare tax credits Employment and support allowance Universal credit
Legislation
Welfare Reform Bill 2010-12
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk