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25 JAN 2012

Defence Select Committee publishes Eighth Report

The Defence Select Committee this morning published its eighth report of this session on the Ministry of Defence's Annual Report and Accounts for 2010-2011. 

The Committee has described it as 'grotesque' that 40% of planned military redundancies are to be compulsory while the MoD's current civilian redundancies will be entirely voluntary. This discrepancy is not acceptable, and something we have called on to be addressed. Senior Civil Servants reported to the Committee that this is because 'a large number of Civil Servants have flexible skills that enable them to work in a variety of places'; in my mind, this entirely disregards the breadth of skills and flexibility that is the hallmark of our armed forces and a direct product of the training they receive.

This is also the fifth year in a row that the MoD's accounts have not been signed off by the National Audit Office. Nobody doubts the unique challenges the MoD faces, but they cannot remain unaccountable, and standard accounting procedures still need to apply.

You can view the full report online here, and my views are outlined fully in my article today on Conservative Home, here.


24 JAN 2012

Question to David Gauke on Tax Avoidance

John Glen (Salisbury) (Con): How much revenue does the Treasury expect HMRC to receive as a result of recent measures to reduce tax avoidance, and how much does the Minister estimate could be accrued from tax exiles who make £100 million in this country, clear off to Switzerland for five years, and then come back and advise the Leader of the Opposition?

Mr Gauke: As a consequence of the measures that we announced last year to tackle avoidance, we believe that something like £1 billion will be raised, £750 million of that relating to disguised remuneration, a policy that was opposed by Labour. I cannot talk about individual advisers to the leader of the Labour party and their tax affairs, but if such a person is advising the Labour leader, as far as we are concerned he is doing a great job and should carry on.



In the Media
26 JAN 2012

Benefits equality needed

THE imposition of a benefits cap, if my postbag is at all representative, is something which strikes a chord with large numbers of Salisbury people.

Like most of my correspondents, I am proud to live in a country which makes provision for its most vulnerable and has enshrined the principle of caring for the needy into law.

However, it is indefensible for so many individuals and families with the capacity to work to be stuck in benefit dependency and be given an income far in excess of that of many of the hardworking families whose taxes go to pay for their benefits.

The cap being proposed is £26,000 a year, a sum which, it is worth remembering, equates to a salary of £35,000, far in excess of the national average wage.

In Salisbury, it is not hard to imagine a scenario in which both parents could work full-time and not receive that amount of money.

This is not in any way a punitive measure, it is about redressing the balance to deliver fairness to the hard-pressed taxpayer as well as support to the disadvantaged.

When worklessness has become a lifestyle choice, government owes it to the country at large to incentivise people to get back on their feet.

As with so much of government, even when the principle is just, the devil is in the detail and discussions continue about how best to implement changes without having a disproportionate impact on children, who should not be forced to pay a heavy price for their parents' poor choices. I have always maintained that one area in which greater fairness needs to be achieved is in the government's proposal to remove child benefit from all households containing a higher rate taxpayer.

The move incensed many constituents who felt it directly penalised single income households, while allowing families with combined earnings of more than £80,000 not to lose a penny. The issue now will be the practical costs of measuring household income but the will is there to come up with a solution which addresses this paradox, and I, for one, would welcome it.



John Glen is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Salisbury

John was elected Member of Parliament for Salisbury on 6th May 2010.  Prior to becoming an MP , John's business career has taken him to London and abroad, he has also worked for William Hague, Michael Howard and David Cameron as a senior political adviser. John has been working full time for the people of Salisbury and South Wiltshire from the moment he was selected and will continue to do so...

John Glen was selected as the Conservative Candidate for Salisbury on 31st January 2010. He was selected by an "Open Primary " of 473 Salisbury residents in the Salisbury Playhouse Theatre, nearly half those present were not members of the Conservative Party.

John has over twelve years experience in business and prior to selection was the Senior Adviser to the Global Head of Strategy at Accenture, the world's largest management consulting firm. He co-ordinated his firm's participation at the World Economic Forum (Davos) and has led thought leadership projects on globalisation. John has worked in the oil and gas industries and in the public sector.

John was the Conservative candidate in Plymouth Devonport at the 2001 General Election. Between 2000 and 2001 he worked for William Hague MP assisting with the briefing for Prime Ministers' Question Time. He is particularly interested in Education policy, Defence, Foreign Affairs and mental health. He has travelled to Uganda, South Africa and the Maldives with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy; in September 2011, he was appointed a Board Member.

John is married to Emma and has two step-children. In his spare time he is actively involved in his local church and he is a Patron of Mansfield College, Oxford and he sits as a Justice of the Peace in Westminster.


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First Marine Energy Park in the South West (23/01/12)
The South West has today been named as the UK’s first Marine Energy Park placing the South West at the forefront of marine renewable energy.
Co-operatives Bill to help build a fairer economy (19/01/12)
The Prime Minister has announced plans to introduce a Co-operatives Bill that will cut red tape and help to build a fairer economy.
Elderly given more choice over where they live (18/01/12)
Housing Minister Grant Shapps and Communities Minister Andrew Stunell have called on councils to use every opportunity under the New Deal for Older People to give elderly people more choice and control over where they live, so they are not pressured to sell their home or move into residential care.
PM welcomes plans to push coasting schools harder (17/01/12)
Ahead of a government summit on 'coasting schools' to be held at Downing Street, Ofsted's Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has confirmed his intention to scrap the 'satisfactory' judgment for school inspections.
More powers to remove underperforming teachers (13/01/12)
Schools will soon find it easier to manage their teachers and help ensure they are performing to the best of their abilities.

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Wiltshire Council

National Libraries Day- February 4 (27/01/12)
Libraries across Wiltshire will be celebrating National Libraries Day on 4 February 2012 with a host of exciting events planned. National Libraries Day, supported by Wiltshire Council, is devoted to all types of libraries, library users, staff and...
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New feature for SparkSite (27/01/12)
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