The financial secretary to the Treasury Jane Ellison has not accepted the Treasury Select Committee’s recommendation that the Finance Bill Committee should hear oral evidence on the Finance Bill.
The proposal was supported by the CIOT the Institute for Government and the IFS. However in a letter to TSC chair Andrew Tyrie Ellison explained that she was not persuaded partly because the government already undertakes extensive consultation with stakeholders before legislating in the Finance Bill.
Tyrie has said he will continue to press the government on this point. ‘It is important that the Finance Bill Committee as well as the Treasury Committee has the opportunity to hear directly from tax experts before scrutinising the Finance Bill ’ he said.
‘There have been marked improvements in recent years in the scrutiny of tax measures in Budgets and Finance Bills. But more needs to...