Business Rate Supplements Bill

That point very well demonstrates the pressures businesses are under and why the addition of even 2p in the pound on the business rate in its current form—about 4.3 per cent. on the current 46.2p business multiplier—would be an enormous burden on businesses, just as we hope they will be starting to come out of recession, if we reach that stage by 2010. My hon. Friend’s point is well made. The final area of rating injustice that the Bill does not tackle is the rates situation for businesses in registered ports. The issue has been raised a number of times in the House by Members on both sides. I know the Minister is well aware of it because he and I have had some dealings about it in the past. The Bill would have been an opportunity to address what is happening to businesses in the ports, where there is the reality of a £33 million tax hike on their liability. Because the Valuation Office retrospectively increased the levy and changed the basis for calculation from the old cumulo system to a new one, port businesses are faced with backdated rate demands that in some cases exceed their turnover. So far this year, two businesses in the ports have gone bust specifically because of their inability to meet the backdated rates demand. That means 50 or 60 jobs. Many such firms are small, but when we add things up we find that the situation is serious. A number of ports businesses lobbied Members on both sides of the House just before the Christmas break. Operators of major firms, such as DFDS Tor Line, said that if the situation continued, such would be the difference to them that they would have to consider whether their investment should be in the UK or in Rotterdam on the other side of the North sea.