Business Rate Supplements Bill

I was reminded of the earlier observations by my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) about the insidiousness of timetable motions. This substantial Bill has been debated constructively and positively, but the reality is that the operation of the timetable motion means that the Third Reading debate is such a truncated ritual as to be effectively meaningless. Perhaps we need to think about the values of parliamentary procedure. We have sought to amend the Bill constructively. We accept its operation in relation to the Crossrail project—the one area where the debate became a little charged at times—but we are where we are. I hear what the Minister says and I pay tribute to him for the courteous way in which he and his ministerial colleagues dealt with the Bill and its detail. As always, it has been a pleasure for Front-Bench Members on both sides to interact on the Bill. That said, we remain unpersuaded that the particular situation of Crossrail justifies the roll out of a power—albeit a discretionary one—elsewhere in the country. The particular economic circumstances make that especially inappropriate at this time. We should take on board some of the third party observations that were helpfully relayed to the Committee in its evidence sessions. The British Chambers of Commerce made the point that we cannot just look at the discretionary power in isolation. We must consider the business rate supplement in combination with the other burdens on business: the possibility of community infrastructure levies; in some local authorities, the possibility of congestion charging; and the possibility of workplace parking levies, which have to be taken into account in relation to BID levies. All of those together can create a potentially threatening mixture of burdens for firms in a difficult time. That is why we have concerns about the timing of the Bill. I am not at all against giving local authorities incentives to assist in the generation of economic development. That is why I think it is ironic that we are introducing this discretionary power to charge businesses more at the same time as the Government have reduced drastically the funding available to the local authority business growth incentive scheme. That juxtaposition causes many of us to be very cynical about the ultimate motivation, particularly behind the Treasury's approach to the Bill. Many businesses are struggling at present, and there are missed opportunities in that this Bill could have embraced measures to try to improve their situation. If there is to be a discretionary power to levy a business rates supplement, why not also use the Bill as an opportunity to give a discretionary power to levy a business rates discount? That would have won support in all parts the House, and I am sad that that opportunity to bring some relief in areas of difficulty was not taken. As my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, South (Mr. Binley) pointed out, it is a pity, too, that opportunities have not been taken to address problems arising from a possible revaluation that may be based on data that are significantly out of date and out of alignment with the current and future economic situation. It would also have been useful if we had taken the opportunity to make small business rate relief automatic, and taken on board the proposals in the private Member's Bill of my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Peter Luff), especially as when the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan), replied to it on Friday, what he said suggested there was some sympathy for it. There is a sadness, therefore, in that this Bill could have done much more to address the needs of small businesses, but it instead focused on the national roll-out of a scheme that we do not think is appropriate for current circumstances. Against that background, and given that we have limited time available, I will not rehash all the arguments that have been made. I hope, however, that when the Bill passes to the other place, the opportunity will be taken to pursue some of those issues on which it was agreed that improvements could be made and more could be done. I note in particular the new clause of the right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr. Raynsford), to which Members on both sides of the House were sympathetic, and I hope something can be done in that regard. I hope, too, that we can take forward constructively in the other place what we discussed on Report about the various models by which we can ensure that, if we are to have the BRS system, the business community is party not only to the early stage of its development, but the outworking of the Bill. Although measures can be taken to improve the Bill, that does not alter the fact that we remain unhappy with it. We do not intend to vote against it on Third Reading in this House, but we now have to hope that local authorities will show forbearance by not exercising a power that could have unintended harmful consequences in the current circumstances. That is my concern, and that is why we have set out our caveats, and why we look forward to seeing what can be done to the Bill in another place.