Admitting he was breaking with tradition, Carr made his maiden speech the day after taking his seat because there was a Labour-initiated debate on abolition of the Poll Tax. He reported some of the conversations he had had on the campaign trail, and then outlined the case for a local income tax. He used his professional knowledge to speak on teachers' pay, which was being reformed at the time he entered Parliament; in June 1991 he welcomed the appointment of an independent body to decide pay levels, explaining that morale in the profession was low because of previous government decisions.