Article for Berkhamsted and Tring Gazette

Locally and nationally, the economy has been at the forefront of my work in the last few weeks. As a Treasury minister, I have spent a fair amount of time working on the Autumn Statement, delivered last week. The economy has kept growing this year and is forecast to grow in 2012, but there is no doubt that growth is slower than we would like, and slower than commentators were expecting. The financial crisis of 2008 has done more harm than people realised and the combination of higher fuel and food prices and the uncertainty created by the Eurozone crisis has further knocked back our economy.

Our local economy is proving to be more resilient than many parts of the country. I had a chance to discuss this further at last week’s Connect Dacorum and Dacorum Community Trust’s Christmas Lunch (sponsored by, amongst others, the Gazette). Attended by around 120 representatives from local businesses and charities, the event demonstrated once again the strong sense of community we have. As Mayor, Gill Chapman, put it, ‘the Big Society is alive and well in Dacorum’.

The picture for businesses varies. These are not easy times but many businesses seem to be doing surprisingly well. As for local charities, fundraising is difficult and demands are greater than before. Talking to Margaret Kingston, who so ably runs Dacorum Community Trust, there continues to be more people in need of help than four or five years ago.

I got to see another example of a local charity doing good work for the community a week earlier when visiting Hightown Praetorian & Churches Housing Association in Tring. I called in to meet some of the residents of Seymour Court, a development for adults with learning disabilities, before dropping in to their charity shop preparing itself for the Victorian evening. Finally, it was on to a small housing development which, through a shared mortgage arrangements, is designed to give people a chance to get a foot on the housing ladder.

Later that evening, it was on to the Old Mill, Berkhamsted as part of their charity evening for the Hospice of St Francis to pull (and sample) the odd pint. As a patron of the Hospice, I know what a fantastic job it does. Legacy income – unpredictable at the best of times – has been disappointing of late and the Hospice is having to take some difficult decisions in order to live within its means but there is no doubt that the community is rallying round.

If there is one theme I would draw from all of this is how, in difficult times, local businesses and local charities are rolling up their sleeves and doing what they can to help the local community. There is a grown-up recognition that there isn’t as much money around as there once was. But there is a quiet determination to make the best of things.

My Ministerial duties tend to focus very heavily on issues relating to tax (not always a popular subject, but somebody has to do it!). In doing this job, two things have struck me. First, how many of us actually know how much tax we pay? Information may be there on the payslip or on P60s but how many of us look closely at these documents? My suspicion is that not many of us do. Second, the way our tax system works hasn’t changed much for decades. Information is generally paper based as is communication with Revenue & Customs for the most part.

We are looking at a few ideas in this area. Perhaps everyone could have access to an online tax account – a bit like an online bank account – but with information about your earnings and the tax you pay, including rates etc. This could be updated to make sure that the Revenue had up-to-date and accurate information. HMRC is consulting on Modernising the administration of the personal tax system this and more information can be found on the HMRC website.

I am keen to get the views of taxpayers on what information should be available and how this might work. Do have a look at the consultation and let us know what you think.

Finally, as this is my last column before Christmas, so I would just like to wish all readers of the Gazette a Merry Christmas.