Rating (Empty Properties) Bill

I agree with the thrust of the hon. Gentleman’s argument. Will he consider what would happen if, as sometimes occurs, a local authority or another agency wished to put together a significant regeneration scheme? As part of that scheme, the authority or agency might well acquire commercial property and the residential property surrounding it, as happened with the pathfinder schemes in Manchester. If the homes that feed local shops are acquired, it is inevitable that the agency or authority will have to acquire the nearby commercial premises as well because their business will have gone. While the agency or authority assembles the rest of its desirable scheme, will it be penalised by the empty business rate? Surely such a situation would be perverse.