10. What assessment he has made of the Government’s income tax policy so far as it relates to Wales. (136394)

14. What assessment he has made of the Government’s income tax policy so far as it relates to Wales. (136398)

In 2013, the increase in the personal allowance for income tax will be the largest ever cash increase and shows that this Government are committed to creating a fair tax system that rewards hard work.

Like many in my constituency, I am sure that the people of Wales and, perhaps in particular in Llanbedr Pont Steffan, welcome the changes to personal allowances that our Government have implemented. Would the Minister care to take this opportunity to confirm how many residents in Wales have benefited since 2010, having been taken out of income tax altogether following this Government’s welcome changes to the personal tax allowance?

It is indeed great news in Llanbedr Pont Steffan and elsewhere in Wales that, as a result of the decisions taken by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor in the autumn statement, an additional 13,000 people will be lifted out of tax altogether, with a total benefit to people of £1.1 million.

The Silk commission proposals will provide the Welsh Government with the power to vary individual tax bands. Does the Secretary of State share my concern that the Welsh Labour Government might be tempted further to target the 6% of Welsh taxpayers who pay the higher rate of income tax and contribute 33% of all taxes raised in Wales?

The Government are considering the recommendations of the Silk report and will be reporting on them very shortly. That is the appropriate time to take them forward.

We all know that millionaires benefit from the Government’s tax policies. Will the Minister tell us how many millionaires there are in Wales?

The hon. Gentleman knows as well as I do that there are relatively few millionaires in Wales. What I can tell him is that in every year of this Parliament, they will be paying more tax than they did in each year of the last Labour Government.

Is not the real danger with the Government’s changes to tax and benefits that we will see in Wales, particularly in deprived communities where the vast majority of people work, that those people will have less money in their pockets, less money to spend in local shops and there will be more shops closing and fewer people in jobs—a double whammy for the Welsh economy?

If the hon. Gentleman wants to be taken seriously as having a message on deficit reduction, he should know that deficit reduction cannot begin until a serious approach to welfare reform is taken. Government Members are doing that in a fair and responsible way—a way that rewards hard work.