Rating (Empty Properties) Bill

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I am almost beginning to regret that I no longer practise law, because the greatest business growth might be for those lawyers who appear in rating tribunals, and who argue exactly that sort of neat and interesting point. I am sure that that is not the type of job creation that the Government were intending, but it might be the result. We need to hear a great deal more from the Government on such a serious point. We do not know whether rating appeals are likely to increase significantly, or what burdens will fall on the system, in addition to the other burdens affecting local authorities. Generally, those of us who look at our own shopping centres do not believe that properties are deliberately left vacant. It is tough enough for smaller landlords to survive without such burdens being placed on them. In areas such as mine I am concerned that, if smaller landlords find that the additional burden tips them over the edge of viability, they will be forced to sell up. The only people who will be able to take advantage and buy will be the large landlords—Tesco, Sainsbury’s and the others, who will gobble up yet more sites. As has been pointed out, they can bear the cost, proportionately, of land banking. That cannot be what is intended; it is hardly consistent with the Sustainable Communities Bill, on which I am delighted to see the Minister is increasingly a convert. Those of us who want and value diversity of tenure in our town centres would be concerned if the Government’s proposals had such an unintended consequence. It is also worth remembering that the commercial property sector is important for the UK economy. The retail sector alone has an aggregate rateable value of some £38 billion, which is hugely important to our economic interest. Overall, current estimates suggest that about 7 per cent. of that is vacant. That might suggest an aggregate rateable value for those vacant properties of about £2.5 billion. That brings me back to my concern about the motivation for the proposal. I agree that the Local Government Association was supportive of the proposals, but for the reason that caused me to support the return of the business rate—that any additional money raised had to stay in the local economy, where it could be used for the benefit of the local community. No such safeguard appears anywhere in the Bill. No algebraic formula ensures that that money will go back to the people of Bromley or any other local authority. The danger is that it will go straight into the hands of the Treasury. The way in which the Treasury has increasingly nationalised revenue raised from local sources is one of the real problems that we face in trying to make our local communities sustainable. Taken in the context of other Government measures—powers to trim back business rates across the board, and the removal of the exemption on agricultural land and farmland, of which Bromley and Chislehurst has some but not much—there is real concern about the effect of the proposals. Small businesses in my part of the world have been concerned that previous measures enacted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer have damaged them. The fact that the small business rate relief was not automatic led to a considerable drop in take-up. That was a burden placed on small businesses, and they fear another burden of the same kind. We look to the Minister to act. The only occasion on which I parted company from my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath was when he described the Minister as frugal. As we know, the Minister is capable of acts of great generosity, and we look forward to its being redeemed in due course. My hon. Friend the Member for St. Albans (Anne Main) is not present at the moment, but if the Minister feels inclined towards the same generosity on this occasion, perhaps she should be awarded a prize for the ““champagne moment”” of the debate. I hope that by now the Minister has an answer to the point that I have raised. He nods, so I can sit down.