Tax credit cuts latest

Latest stuff on tax credit cuts ahead of commons debate tomorrow;

Chancellor under fresh pressure to halt tax credit cuts, with 71 Tory MPs in marginal seats vulnerable to a backlash

Could tax credit cuts be George Osborne’s poll tax moment?

Don’t be fooled. The money is there to avoid cuts to tax credits

IDS asking for those who will be hardest hit by tax credit cuts to be helped to find additional work

Govt’s tax credit cuts could be stopped in their tracks under last-ditch ‘fatal motion’ tabled in the House of Lords

Labour would reverse tax credit cuts, says Shadow Chancellor

London mayor says government changes ‘bear down on the working poor’ as Labour peer vows to block legislation in the Lords

Meanwhile ....

Britons could be caught in policies to restrict tax credits for EU migrants

Just came across this one as well.

Osborne’s enemies use tax credits row to undermine Chancellor’s leadership bid

Interested to note that this says that “the Lords is likely to end up debating a rare ‘fatal’ motion to kill the instrument in the Upper Chamber when it comes before peers next Monday. That motion doesn’t need to be tabled until Friday afternoon”

Not come across this before, anyone know anymore?

Most SIs don’t require a full affirmative procedure – that is they don’t have to be voted on by Parliament in order to come into force; it will happen when the Secretary of State approves them.

In order for them not to come into force, it is necessary to invoke a negative procedure, where the SI can be revoked if either House of Parliament votes against
it.

Under the negative procedure SIs are usually made (signed by the Minister) before they are laid before Parliament. There will be 40 sitting days, within which MPs or Members of the House of Lords may request a debate by asking the Government that the instrument be annulled (this procedure is called ‘praying’ against the SI).

In the House of Lords, a debate will most likely take place on the Floor of the House. In the House of Commons, if the Government agrees to a debate, it is likely to take place in Delegated Legislation Committees rather than in the main Chamber. Usually, SIs are laid before Parliament at least 21 days before they come
into force.

If there are no objections to an SI subject to the negative procedure then there will be no Parliamentary procedure on the SI, and even when instruments have been prayed against the Government may not find time for a debate.

In the Commons, negative SIs which have been prayed against may be referred to a Delegated Legislation Committee or, far more rarely, be debated on the floor of the House.

In the House of Lords these SIs can be debated on the floor of the House or in Grand Committee. The House of Lords are unlikely to defeat a negative procedure
SI but may vote on a ‘take note’ motion which highlights a concern about the SI to the Government but does not stop it becoming law.

As in this case though,  it is not impossible the House of Lords to try to defeat a negative procedure.

Thanks Gareth, very thorough.

The joy of copy and paste, most of it.

However -

Tories Threaten To Suspend House Of Lords If It Kills Off Tax Credit Cuts

ros - 20 October 2015 09:01 AM

However -

Tories Threaten To Suspend House Of Lords If It Kills Off Tax Credit Cuts

Article claims that ”...a fatal motion on a financial matter would be unprecedented” yet I searched the darkest recesses of my memory and came up with this from when we were campaigning against the LASPO Bill in 2012.

Fatal motion defeats LASPO cut

“Peers inflicted a 10-vote defeat on government plans under LASPO to cut legal aid. The House of Lords backed a so-called ‘fatal motion’ to reject a draft order stemming from the controversial Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act.”

So not only is it not “unprecedented”, it also sadly, didn’t ultimately make a jot of difference…..

Britons could be caught in policies to restrict tax credits for EU migrants

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)‘s definition of migrant families includes those in which one partner is a British national. This significantly inflates the figure of 740,000 “non-UK” families claiming tax credits that the Treasury uses to formulate policy and in its discussions about restricting foreigners’ access to the UK benefits system.

HMRC has repeatedly refused to say how many of the 740,000 families fall into this category.

Paul_Treloar_CPAG - 20 October 2015 09:29 AM

So not only is it not “unprecedented”, it also sadly, didn’t ultimately make a jot of difference…..

However this is an SI rather than an Act; from my reading yesterday that would seem to be rather important.

The LASPO vote was on an SI too.

I have just put up a blog post looking at the effects of the copied across tax credit cuts onto Universal Credit.

I took the example of Michelle Dorrell, who made such an effective intervention on Question Time last week, to see how she would fare.

The results are terrifying, because she falls into two categories most hit by the Universal Credit changes. Have a look at http://bit.ly/gmTkEy

It’s Tuesday and i’m depressed and angry. It usually takes till at least Wednesday morning….

Ditto….

Very interesting Gareth - I hope Michelle doesn’t read your blog - it might be the last straw for her…

I’ve put together some sample calculations focusing on the immediate effect of the April 2016 changes to WTC/CTC and UC for current claimants at…

https://www.lgbp3.co.uk/tcuc2016/tcuc2016.html

Guardian reports that Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has instructed peers to vote for fatal motion -

Government facing defeat in Lords over tax credits