National Insurance Contributions Bill

It might be appropriate to say a word or two about the context of this afternoon’s business, because this is one of those Bills that sadly seems to have received all-party support to date, and that usually means very bad legislation indeed. Time and again in the House, we are confronted with that revolting political concept consensus, which usually involves a lack of proper debate and scrutiny of the legislation. A few of us hope to put that right and give the Bill something of a proper examination in the limited time that is now available to us this afternoon. In doing so, I start with the group of amendments that you have just identified, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is fair to say that the thrust of the amendments covers two principal areas of consideration—one is the general concept of consultation and the other is the contradistinction of expedience and reasonableness, which we shall perhaps come to later. In framing the amendments on consultation that my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) and I have tabled, I underwent a rollercoaster ride in deciding finally where to end up, because the amendments suggest that the Treasury be obliged to consult the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs. I was in two minds about that, because when I looked at the genesis of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs, I found a rather mixed picture, and it is fair to say—I should warn the House—that this is perhaps not quite so straightforward as it would seem. I wanted to create a vehicle, a mechanism, whereby somebody other than the Treasury can look at the very important matters that we are dealing with in the Bill—retrospection and all that goes with it—and I lit upon the commissioners as the most appropriate body. In doing so, I went to the Act that set up the commissioners and, indeed, to the explanatory notes to that Act, and I want to share them briefly with the House, so that hon. Members can judge whether my amendment is appropriate. Obviously, I will argue that, on balance, my amendment represents the way forward, but I want to attach a health warning to it. I refer first to paragraph 7 of the explanatory notes to the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005, which states:"““The Act provides that, in the exercise of their functions, the Commissioners will comply with directions of a general nature given to them by the Treasury. It provides the legislative structure within which the Commissioners have the operational discretion to organise in the most appropriate way, and to make changes over time as necessary.””" Straightaway, we have run into a possible problem in that I am arguing that we give the commissioners the opportunity to be consulted, whereas we have right there in front of us the phrase,"““the Commissioners will comply with directions of a general nature given to them by the Treasury.””" That is my first health warning on the amendment.