HC Deb 15 March 1956 vol 550 cc547-8
38. Sir I. Fraser

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has yet reached any conclusions with regard to the recommendations of the committee on the taxation treatment of provisions for retirement.

Mr. H. Brooke

I must ask my hon. Friend to await my right hon. Friend's Budget statement.

Sir I. Fraser

While his right hon. Friend is preparing his statement, will the Financial Secretary impress upon him that there is this section of middle-class persons, self-employed persons and professional persons, which has no opportunity of saving, such as is available to wage earners generally?

Mr. Brooke

I myself, on behalf of my right hon. Friend, received a very authoritative deputation a few days ago from the accountancy profession and both branches of the legal profession, and I can assure my hon. Friend that both the Chancellor and I are fully seized of this issue.

Mr. Isaacs

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the question of this Committee's Report has been raised over the last three or four years with the Chancellor, and can the right hon. Gentleman give some hope of relief, not only to the class referred to by the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lonsdale (Sir I. Fraser), but to working people who are in receipt of pensions, having as much as 4s. or 5s. a week deducted?

Mr. Brooke

The right hon. Gentleman referred to "three or four years" ago, but the Report of the Committee was actually published two years ago. I must say that I should be surprised if my right hon. Friend the Chancellor could make his Budget statement this year without including some mention, positive or negative, of the subject.