Business Rate Supplements Bill

We have all had experiences of Hansard and of problems that we have created. I remember when I was a health Whip confidently promising to spend most of the NHS budget on aromatherapy. I read the report of it in Hansard the following day and had to make some urgent corrections. The noble Earl’s point about the validity and integrity of the consultation process and the extent to which it is a serious exercise is important. Many is the time that we have debated the nature of consultation in the field of housing and local government, and this is another opportunity to do so. I was slightly puzzled by the argument that the noble Lord, Lord Tope, put forward simply because he rightly talked about the nature of the trust implicit in a project such as a BRS. It will involve a significant amount of commitment and there will have to be a complete understanding of what everyone is signing up for. Therefore, the quality of the consultation between business and the levying authority and the frankness that is involved will be important. However, the amendments are about requiring authorities to do that, which seems to do a little beyond the notion of trust. Amendments 38 to 40 and 46A all relate to the consultation that authorities will be required to undertake before levying or varying a BRS. I could not be more supportive of the general principle that the consultation has not only to be serious in purpose but to lead to a reflection in the prospectus of what has been consulted on and agreed. That is at the heart of what will make a project a success. Amendment 38 requires authorities to consult businesses that they think will become liable for the supplement at some point in the future. I certainly agree that local businesses should have confidence that, if they are to be affected by a BRS, they will be consulted. However, I have to deal with the amendment in its own terms, and requiring this to happen as a matter of course could lead to some very unwelcome uncertainty. The Bill currently provides that levying authorities must consult all those who will be liable for the supplement, as well as the lower-tier authorities in the area and other persons whom it considers relevant. Clause 6(5) also makes it clear that, in considering which other persons should be consulted, the authority must consider whether to consult those who might become liable for the supplement at some point in the future and pay particular attention to those persons. That, in itself, is a mark of the integrity of the process. Because these projects will, in many cases, span a number of years, the possibility that other businesses might be swept up in the threshold should also clearly be taken account of. The problem is that there is an inherent uncertainty in predicting changes. It is obvious that it will not always be possible for levying authorities to identify who might be available.