Business Rate Supplements Bill

I support these amendments, to which I have had the honour of putting my name. I very much support and echo the sentiments expressed and just want to make two points in addition to those that have already been made clearly and effectively by the noble Baroness, Lady Valentine. There is a strong sense of commitment from the business community to the whole Crossrail endeavour, and there is no doubt that it will bring substantial benefits to that community across London. There have already been substantial delays. Therefore, if there is any ambiguity in the Bill which could be open to legal challenge, it is far better that it is dealt with in the weeks surrounding the Committee and Report stages of the Bill rather than be played out at length in the courts. It is clear that Crossrail has been studied and scrutinised by the Department for Transport and the Treasury for many years. My noble friend Lord Jenkin of Roding referred to it being in his consciousness for 20 years, and I think that it has been actively considered over a long period. Crossrail was included in the Government’s 2005 election manifesto, and it has been scrutinised by Parliament on two occasions—through the Crossrail Act 2008 and the Finance Act 2008. Crossrail is huge in scale—indeed, it will qualify as a nationally significant infrastructure project under the Planning Act 2008—and it will deliver benefits that will accrue way beyond London. I think that those are compelling reasons for accepting the modest measures proposed in the amendment. The one argument that the Minister could put forward, and on which I take this opportunity to express a view, is that other business rate supplement schemes might be caught by the provision of the 2011 start date, although I do not think that that will be the case. In the survey that we discussed in debate on an earlier amendment, it was pointed that, of the 96 chief economic development officers consulted, none had any immediate plans, and I think that by the time all the consultation has taken place, we will be considerably beyond 2011. This initiative is clearly needed and welcomed because it gives rise to a major infrastructure project at a time when the City of London most desperately needs it. It was the subject of a ballot—namely, in the mayoral elections, when Mayor Johnson made it very clear that it was one of his key ambitions. Therefore, we should do anything that we can do to ensure clarity in the process and to speed up the delivery of this important project.