Rating and Valuation (S.I., 2009, No. 204)

I see that the right hon. Gentleman, who likes to hear a tale unfold, is following me closely. I am sure that he is getting the drift. We are now finding that businesses are being hit by massive and unsustainable bills. It is worth giving a few examples. TTS Shipping Ltd. is a small firm, but well organised—a viable company under any normal circumstances. It pays its way; it is important to stress that in this context. It pays corporation tax, national insurance contributions and PAYE of £425,000 to £860,000 a year. These are not fly-by-night people—they are honest businesses paying their way and doing their bit. In 2007, TTS found that it had a retained profit of £40,000. It has now been saddled with a backdated liability for rates of more than £1 million, which it will not be able to pay—it is as simple as that. This regulation affects big people too; I am always interested in treating the big and the small equally, as hon. Members will appreciate. DFDS Tor Line, one of the major multinationals operating in the UK, has a backdated rates demand of £9.9 million. Even for a major operation, that is a lot of money. Its increase in annual liability is £3 million. Its managing director has written to indicate that, as a result, his main board is considering relocating the business outside the UK. That is very significant. The major international players, particularly on the Baltic and North sea routes, have the option, when transporting cars and other goods, to offload in Amsterdam or Rotterdam and then bring the goods on via road instead of shipping them in direct, so that British competitiveness in the ports is damaged. My final example is Freshney Cargo Services. Its bill has gone from £48,000 to more than £850,000—massively more than its best-year-ever profit. Its retrospective liability is £24 million, for which it could never possibly plan. There is no way that these business can meet the unintended consequences of this foul-up by the VOA.