As a member of the Finance Bill Committee, I’ve spent the last few weeks in committee meetings scrutinising the bill, line by line. The Finance Bill puts the Budget into law, and at a whopping 580 pages, the Bill is a substantial piece of legislation. I have focused on several aspects of the legislation, and overview of which can be found below:
1. Cuts to the Climate Change Levy- The Finance Bill, as proposed by the Tories, removed the climate change levy exemption for electricity generated from renewable sources. I raised concerns during the committee of the whole house that the removal of this exemption would seriously undermine the development of the UK’s renewable energy sector. The removal of this exemption has the potential to disproportionately affect Scottish businesses, as Scotland has a significant portion of Europe’s renewable energy potential, including 25% of Europe’s wind and tidal potential, and 10% of Europe’s wave potential. I consider the removal of this exemption to be yet another Tory cut to progressive energy policy. You can read my full comments here: http://goo.gl/UbNZus
2. The Apprenticeship Levy- The Bill introduced a new levy, the Apprenticeship Levy, to help fund apprenticeship programmes. As you may be aware, skills policy, including the Scottish apprenticeship programme, is devolved to Holyrood. However, the new levy would apply to all businesses in the UK, including Scottish businesses. The UK Government had announced that it would allocate £500 million from apprenticeship levy receipts to the devolved administrations, and that Scotland would receive a portion of this via the Barnett formula. However, I had particular concerns that Scottish businesses may end up paying in more to the programme than the Scottish Government receives via Barnett, given that the Government admitted that it had not made any assessment of how much Scottish businesses were projected to pay under the new Apprenticeship Levy, in a response to a written question I had submitted. In addition to my concerns, the SNP proposed New Clause 2, which called for a review of the implementation of the levy, with particular focus on the equitable treatment of the different regions in the UK. You can read my full comments here: http://goo.gl/pS6gqf
3. Support for the Oil and Gas Sector- The Bill further introduced changes to levy rates for businesses in the oil and gas sector. While some of these changes were welcome, I do not believe that the UK Government has done enough to support the oil and gas industry. The alternations made to the financing of the oil and gas sector fall significantly short of the fiscal and regulatory reforms necessary to ensure a steady recovery in the ongoing North Sea crisis. Furthermore, I raised concerns that the UK Government isn’t doing enough to encourage the growth UK businesses involved in decommissioning oil rigs. With oil fields reaching maturity for the first time ever, decommissioning provides a huge opportunity for business in both UK oil fields and further afield, but the industry needs more support. As such, the SNP proposed New Clause 3 and New Clause 6, which called for a comprehensive review of the regime in the North Sea, and a review into the ways in which the Treasury could support growth in the decommissioning sector. You can read my full comments here: http://goo.gl/XewzcZ
4. Fuel Duty- Over the past few years, the cost of fuel has fluctuated significantly, with oil reaching $125 per barrel in 2012, and dipping to just under $30 per barrel earlier this year. These fluctuations have had a massive impact on producers as well as consumers, such as road haulage companies, private road users, and domestic fuel users. The SNP introduced New Clause 4, which sought to establish a fuel duty regulator regime to help stabilise pricing. You can read my full comments here: http://goo.gl/tcYTI1
Following the committee stage of the Bill, it now moves to the Report stage, and will be returned to the floor of the House.