Business Rate Supplements Bill

I shall start with Amendment 50A, which seeks to put beyond doubt that when a ratepayer requests it, the levying authority may cancel its BRS. I am sure that the noble Lord knows that that is already covered in the Bill. There is nothing preventing a levying authority stopping a BRS early in a controlled way. For example, it can choose not to proceed with a later stage of the project in the light of representations received. That would amount to a variation of the BRS and, as we have previously discussed, depending on what is written in the prospectus, it is possible that such a variation could be made automatically. Otherwise it would technically require consultation in accordance with Clause 10 and, in some cases, even a ballot, although that would not be arduous if a substantial number of representations had been received. In other cases, if the levying authority simply abandons the project, the Secretary of State has the power in Clause 21(4) to provide in regulations that when the BRS is to come to an end, ratepayers do not continue paying for a project that is no longer happening. I hope that the noble Lord is reassured that levying authorities can end a BRS early. Amendment 61B considers the role of the Secretary of State by making it clear that he cannot intervene when a levying authority has departed from a minor or technical aspect of its BRS plans on which businesses considering the original proposals will not have relied. Clause 24 is sensible in that it allows the Secretary of State to intervene and potentially to cancel BRS and order the return to businesses of the sums paid in those circumstances when a levying authority acts inconsistently with information that it has provided to business at key stages of the BRS process. That cuts across the fundamental requirement of the integrity of the scheme and the partnership. The information is included in its final BRS prospectus or in a variation proposal under Clause 10 in the course of a consultation with business, or in connection with the holding of a ballot. So this is very much a nuclear option. I do not expect levying authorities will be acting inconsistently with the information that they give business. Of course we know that mistakes can happen and that difficulties can arise, but I expect that if that ever happens, the levying authority’s business will spot it; they will be able to anticipate it and be only too ready and able to pull up the levying authority, and so they should. The levying authority should act quickly and decisively to get back on track to deliver the BRS and the project it is promised to. In very rare cases, a levying authority’s local partners—for example, the ones on the regional improvement and efficiency partnership—might step in to help it get back on track to deliver the project set out in the prospectus; there are good intervention processes available. It is only in the most exceptional cases, therefore, when local engagement with business and other partners has failed to resolve the problems a levying authority might be facing, that the Secretary of State would consider stepping in. Even then, cancellation would be the last resort because the projects we are contemplating are complex, long term, innovative and no doubt expensive. We want BRS to work and to deliver what is promised, and working together to achieve that will always be the first resort, and cancelling of the BRS, with all its implications, will always be the last. I can offer the noble Baroness further reassurance. The Secretary of State’s power under Clause 24 does not extend to allowing intervention in response to minor technical issues where a levying authority does something slightly different to what is in its prospectus in circumstances where business would simply not be interested. She has already quoted Clause 24(1) and the requirement for there to be a material inconsistency. The Secretary of State’s power applies where there is a material inconsistency between what the levying authority has said it will do and what it is doing. A minor inconsistency will not trigger the power; it is there to be exercised only in extreme circumstances where the BRS and the project being delivered are different to what was clearly set out and promised. I confidently expect the use of the power in other circumstances to be the subject of a challenge through the courts. I understand the noble Baroness’s concerns and the reasons she has tabled the amendment, but I hope that I have given sufficient reassurance to both her and the noble Lord.