Non-Domestic Rating (Deferred Payments) (England) Regulations 2009

My Lords, as noble Lords on the Conservative Benches have said, this is not the first time the House has discussed this matter. When we debated a similar Motion last March, it went to a Division. I advised my colleagues to support the Conservative Front Bench and together we were able to defeat the Government. If the Conservatives put this to a vote again today, we Liberal Democrats will support them again. I do not want to speak at great length because we have heard an eloquent and extremely long speech from the noble Lord, Lord Bates, which has covered a great deal of the ground. I want to give the Minister time to respond in some detail because this is an important matter which has not yet been resolved satisfactorily. There is no doubt that there has been a serious mistake; it has been a cock up. The Government and the Valuation Office Agency between them have created this problem. They started in the spring by saying, "It is not really a problem. We will allow them eight years in which to pay this money and it will not make a great deal of difference". However, the experience is that it is making a great deal of difference. For example, on 22 August 2009, the Daily Telegraph—if it is in the Daily Telegraph it must be right of course; that is an ironic comment but I have no doubt that it is right—reported that two small businesses in the port of Goole on the Humber had received a backdated bill of just under £1 million and an ongoing liability of £350,000 a year, which is somewhat hefty for businesses with a joint annual turnover of just £2.5 million. A business at Birkenhead on the Mersey with annual sales of £7.5 million received a retrospective bill of around £2 million and an ongoing liability of £500,000 a year. These are substantial sums of money. They are, if I may use a nautical metaphor, an anchor that has been hung around the neck of these businesses, and simply saying to them, "You have got eight years to pay it back", is not satisfactory. These businesses will have this liability and this weight around their necks for a considerable period of time. There are two problems: one is the increased valuations of the rates because of the new system that was introduced retrospectively from 2005; the second is the retrospective demands for the payment of these rates between 2005 and 2008. It may be that the new valuations are appropriate and correct. If that is the case—the businesses may not agree—then at least if they had had advance notice they could have planned for them, but to put in the retrospective element in addition is unacceptable. Retrospection is in the news at the moment. A newspaper article this morning suggested that where people had been overpaid child credit through no fault of their own, in future they would not have to repay it. I do not know whether that is the case but, if it is, it is a good thing. There is a great deal of talk about retrospective payments in relation to the House of Commons at the moment, but we perhaps should not interfere today in that argument in this House. But it is in the news. Whenever a Government or an authority tells people that they have to pay retrospectively money which they had not known about previously, there is a major problem, whether it is for individuals, Members of Parliament or businesses. This problem has been acknowledged and has not been solved by the Government. The time has come when they should put their hand up and say, "Yes, there is a problem and it should be sorted out". Our line is exactly the same as it was when we discussed the matter in March and subsequently; the mess has been caused by the Government and the Valuation Office Agency and the Government should take full responsibility and sort it out. The port industry is vital to the British economy. This is a burden for about 670 or 680 businesses and is utterly unacceptable. Cancelling the back payments does not create a precedent for other back rights because of the retrospective element here, which was caused entirely by the agency and the Government. We therefore urge the Government to maintain port ratings at the level published in the 2005 lists until the next scheduled revaluation of statutory ports is undertaken in 2010. Even if that results in increased payments, at least people will know about them and can plan for them. We support the Motion.