Business Rate Supplements Bill

That point may be taken up elsewhere. My hon. Friend highlights an issue that underlines the fact that right, across the piece and in a number of areas, there has been a shifting of burdens from central Government to local government in one form or another. There may sometimes be arguments for that, but let us be honest about it. What we are really seeing is the potential for economic development moneys to be moved away from the central Exchequer to local residents and businesses. The validity of my hon. Friend's point is reinforced by an interesting juxtaposition, which is perhaps wholly coincidental, although I do not think so. The Bill proposes giving local authorities right across the country the power to raise revenue from business for economic development purposes, and at the same time there has been a massive cut to the funding made available by central Government for the local authority business growth incentive scheme, which has been absolutely emasculated. It is interesting that the Treasury took away that money. The inevitable unwritten message was: "Sorry, local authorities; if you want those schemes to go ahead, you'll have to raise the money from your businesses, rather than getting it from us." That is ultimately a stealth tax, yet again.