Westminster as it happened: 28 April 2016

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Health Minister Alistair Burt tells David Lammy he shares his passion for the issue.

He says he is proud of the government's record on mental health but says it is important to ensure that "what we commit to flows through" to the right places.

He assures the House that they won't find him lacking when it comes to dealing with the issue. 

The debate on HMRC concludes and David Lammy rises to open the adjournment debate on mental health services in Haringey.

He begins by paying tribute to those who work for the council who he believes have "been asked to do an impossible job".

He says this constituency has seen some "terrible cases" in recent years and calls on the minister to earmark funding for the crisis team. 

"I'm putting the minister on notice," he says.

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David Gauke says the changes are designed to produce a modern, efficient organisation which provides value for the taxpayer.

He tells MPs that the new changes will make it easier to do taxes online, allow HMRC to offer a seven day service and establish a dedicated phone line for new businesses.

He says the changes are expected to save £700m a year by 2020.

Shadow Treasury minister Rob Marris opens his speech - "It's all a bit of a mess isn't it".

He says the debate is taking place in the context of the Panama Papers. He asks how HMRC staff will be able to deal with the fall out when "they are already rushed off their feet".

He says the "plummeting" HMRC staff numbers is a case of the government cutting off its own nose to spite its face.

He argues that the fewer staff there are the less money HMRC can bring in. "The staff pay for themselves," he says.

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Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts laments the "dismantling" of HMRC services in Wales over the past 15 years. 

Where there used to be 23 offices in Wales, she says it is now proposed that there will only be one. 

One of the offices threatened with closure is in her constituency - "the home of the tax office's Welsh language service."

She argues that the office's current location makes it ideal to attract Welsh speakers.

She worries that if the office is closed the rights of Welsh speakers will be diminished. 

Labour's Peter Dowd is MP for Bootle where four HMRC offices are due to close. 

He says the criteria by which HMRC decided to close offices "does not bear much scrutiny".

He accuses HMRC officials of ignoring the affect of closures on the local communities, social cohesion and nearby businesses.

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The debate wraps up and peers are now speaking about the Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill which is receiving its third reading.

Minister Lord Dunlop thanks peers for their scrutiny of the bill and the legislation passes.

With that the House of Lords adjourns for the day.

Peers will return on Tuesday next week at 2.30pm - until then, goodbye.

SNP MP Christopher Stephens accuses the government's plan of destroying rather than building the future. 

He says HMRC staff would be entitled to ask why a government that "comes up with catchphrases" on devolution "is so intent on such a centralist agenda".

He argues that closures of local HMRC offices will increase unemployment in areas that are already employment black spots.

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Treasury Minister Lord O'Neill of Gatley rises to respond to the debate for the government and attempts to answer the many issues raised by peers.

Speaking about the issue raised by some Labour peers about state investment and deficit reduction, saying "the idea that we should suddenly spend a lot more money and ignore the current employment realities, and ignore potential rainy days in the future is a very, very questionable concept".

When he talks to the points raised by Lord McFall on banking regulation and culture, he says this is a "very important challenge that I and colleagues are spending a considerable amount of time on", but warns that "our desire to punish wrongdoing doesn't smother the financial system".

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The UK's tax authority is to close 137 local offices and replace them with 13 regional centres, raising fears over job losses.

The closures will be complete by 2027, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), but the new centres will be open in the next five years.

Towns and cities hosting the new offices include Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol and Croydon.

The plan comes as HMRC faces criticism of its call centres.

Read more here.

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That concludes the autism debate and the debate on HMRC's Building our Future plan now begins.

The motion being debated expresses concern that the closure of HMRC offices will compromise its ability to collect tax and enforce compliance.

It also calls for the closures to be suspended until a full consultation has been carried out. 

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Health Minister Alistair Burt tells MPs that changes in attitude can be the difference between "ambition thwarted and opportunity fulfilled".

On diagnosis waiting times, he is unwilling to impose a target of three months believing it would be merely be a token gesture.

However, he hopes government efforts to collect more data will have an effect.

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Shadow mental health minister Luciana Berger sums up the debate for the opposition.

She says it is scandalous that people on the autistic spectrum will on average die 18 years earlier than the general population.

She calls it a scandal that those with autism are nine times more likely to commit suicide.

One of the solutions, she argues, is more money for research and calls the current expenditure "a paltry amount".

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Labour shadow spokesperson Lord Davies of Oldham rises to join others in praising the late Lord Peston, saying he combined the two features that are appreciated all around the House - "real expertise and being well worth listening to on all occasions".

Turning to the motion that notes steps taken by the government to build a stronger economy, Lord Davies says "the first thing we ought to do is disregard their track record".

He says when the coalition government came to power in 2010 there was "a deficit of 8% and a growth rate of 3%" and accuses the chancellor of "spending no time at all in demolishing hopes that the growth rate would be sustained".

Highlighting once more the ideological divide between the two sides of the chamber, the Labour peer says that in the wake of the financial crash "far from the state withdrawing the state should have stepped in" with investment.

SNP MP Mike Weir offers his own experience of bringing up his autistic daughter.

He recalls that his daughter was fascinated by Disney cartoons - especially Cinderella and the mice that accompanied her.

He tells how, when on holiday at Disneyland Paris, he took her to meet Cinderella and her rodent friends. However, his daughter couldn't cope with the fact that the mice were bigger than she was.

"We spent the rest of the holiday discovering ways in which to avoid certain Disney characters," he says.

Lib Dem Baroness Kramer speaks out for young people who are "not going an academic route" into skills and employment.

She calls for a "genuinely viable, vocational structure" for young people who want to develop technical or business skills without going to university.  

She says addressing the current lack of support in this area is not just an education issue, but that the Treasury should be taking an interest.

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