Parliamentary search - Business Rates and the Recession

Type

Parliamentary proceeding

Reference

490 c375-418

Session

2008-09

Department

Treasury
Department for Communities and Local Government

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Proceeding contributions

Speaker | 490 c388 (Link to this contribution) Order. The word "misleading" is not a word that we like to use in the Chamber. Perhaps the Minister ...

Speaker | 490 c398 (Link to this contribution) Order. Mr. Speaker originally put a 15-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches, but as we now have so li...

Show all contributions (102)

Mark Todd | 490 c390 (Link to this contribution) While my right hon. Friend is right in saying that this taxation system is not particularly new, wha...

John Healey | 490 c389-90 (Link to this contribution) I am interested in the common cause that the hon. Gentleman is making with the Liberal Front-Bench t...

Richard Shepherd | 490 c389 (Link to this contribution) Looking around the House, I do not see many hon. Members—if any—who were present when this measure w...

Peter Luff | 490 c391 (Link to this contribution) indicated dissent.

John Healey | 490 c390-1 (Link to this contribution) As the system stands, that would be the effect on the business rates multiplier for the following ye...

Mark Prisk | 490 c390 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is right to point out the importance of the retail prices index. If the RPI is negative...

John Healey | 490 c390 (Link to this contribution) I shall make sure that my hon. Friends at the Treasury take that as a Budget representation from my ...

John Healey | 490 c391 (Link to this contribution) I shall personally forward a copy of the Official Report to the Chancellor tomorrow, and I shall hig...

Peter Luff | 490 c391 (Link to this contribution) Of course, the Minister is being a bit tendentious. We opposed the Bill for the bad things that it d...

John Healey | 490 c391 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman shakes his head, but his party voted against the Second Reading and the Third Rea...

John Healey | 490 c391 (Link to this contribution) Of course.

Andrew Selous | 490 c391 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister give way briefly on the issue of fairness?

John Healey | 490 c392 (Link to this contribution) I think that it is reasonable that the hon. Gentleman's constituent should question the Valuation Of...

Andrew Selous | 490 c391-2 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful. The Minister has been extremely generous in giving way today; I think that we all app...

John Healey | 490 c392-3 (Link to this contribution) I can confirm that we are considering the appropriate methodology at the moment. I can further confi...

Robert Neill | 490 c392 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for giving that indication. Will he confirm that the transitional arra...

John Healey | 490 c393 (Link to this contribution) The Government have not made a precise assessment of that, but the general concern, particularly abo...

Brian Binley | 490 c393 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister. He is always generous in giving way and, as my hon. Friend the Member...

Mark Prisk | 490 c394 (Link to this contribution) He got a knighthood!

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 490 c394 (Link to this contribution) More than 20 years ago, my company moved into its first commercial premises. My shock on receiving m...

Richard Shepherd | 490 c386 (Link to this contribution) The Minister said that the stabilisation of the banks is important, and I am sure that everyone agre...

John Healey | 490 c386 (Link to this contribution) I would say that if the business is faced with such a business tax demand, it should have been payin...

Julian Brazier | 490 c386 (Link to this contribution) What would the Minister say to Ahlmark Shipping (UK) Ltd, which contacted me this morning to say tha...

John Healey | 490 c386 (Link to this contribution) I was trying to take the chuntering from the Opposition Front-Bench team seriously, Mr. Deputy Speak...

John Healey | 490 c387 (Link to this contribution) As the House would expect, we are in close contact with businesses and have detailed discussions wit...

John Healey | 490 c387 (Link to this contribution) It is not what I say: the Office for National Statistics has said that the VAT reduction has been pa...

Robert Neill | 490 c387 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister really saying that he thinks that the VAT cut has worked? Does he think that many sm...

John Healey | 490 c386 (Link to this contribution) Well, that is another argument from the Opposition for a fiscal stimulus. It also overlooks the fact...

John Healey | 490 c388 (Link to this contribution) This debate is in danger of foreshadowing a debate that we are likely to have in the Chamber next we...

Julian Brazier | 490 c388 (Link to this contribution) That, of course, is precisely what has not happened in the case of companies such as Ahlmark Shippin...

John Healey | 490 c388 (Link to this contribution) The LABGI scheme—to use a rather ugly and awkward acronym—was a three-year scheme from the outset. T...

John Healey | 490 c387 (Link to this contribution) My diary secretary hates it when I come to these debates. I will not meet the hon. Gentleman's const...

Charles Hendry | 490 c387 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister also look into the case of my constituent, Mr. Thompson, who runs one of the many ...

John Healey | 490 c388-9 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I do not wish to accuse the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst o...

Lord Mann | 490 c389 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that answer and for giving way again, but does he understand the anger of t...

Austin Mitchell | 490 c398-400 (Link to this contribution) I wish to speak exclusively about port rates, so far as they affect my constituency and the Humbersi...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 490 c398 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. That is the reason for our policy of returning the ability to determine the rates to local a...

Peter Luff | 490 c403 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that I gave way to my hon. Friend. She is absolutely right: small businesses are paying a ...

Anne Main | 490 c402 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for giving way on the point about VAT, because every single one of my busines...

Peter Luff | 490 c400-2 (Link to this contribution) You can get a better class of metaphor in Grimsby than you can in Solihull, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It i...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 490 c396 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I think that there is one on the A40 coming into London, and it is a travesty in every sense of...

Paul Robert Holmes | 490 c396 (Link to this contribution) Would my hon. Friend agree that the problem is not just the demolition of existing buildings? In Che...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 490 c396-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valid point. By the time we get to the end of the recession, where will the b...

Paul Robert Holmes | 490 c398 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend share the anger of businesses in Chesterfield, which recently contacted me? Firs...

Mark Oaten | 490 c395 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend also consider the possibility of the Government trying to simplify the procureme...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 490 c395 (Link to this contribution) Yes, he did, but that was some little time ago; I doubt if he would get one today. In their amendme...

Anne Milton | 490 c395 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that the Minister said nothing that will help the 272 businesses in my cons...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 490 c395 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Procurement is hugely important. Where local authorities ha...

Andrew Selous | 490 c396 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Lady aware that a number of such sites around the United Kingdom have not only been demo...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 490 c395-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for that intervention. We have been tantalised with a suggestion from...

Robert Neill | 490 c377-8 (Link to this contribution) That is entirely right; my hon. Friend makes a valid point. The situation is compounded by the Gover...

Baroness Burt of Solihull | 490 c378 (Link to this contribution) I am listening with great interest and sympathy to the hon. Gentleman. However, rather than just giv...

Robert Neill | 490 c379 (Link to this contribution) To be fair to local authorities, I think that the picture varies, but the important point is that at...

David Kidney | 490 c379 (Link to this contribution) When I last asked a parliamentary question on this subject, the Local Government Association got in ...

Robert Neill | 490 c378-9 (Link to this contribution) As many hon. Members will know, my party recently published a policy document called "Control Shift"...

Brian Binley | 490 c379 (Link to this contribution) Has my hon. Friend heard the reports that I have regarding the small business rate relief—that many ...

Robert Neill | 490 c380-1 (Link to this contribution) It is never too late to follow good practice, and I hope that all local authorities will. It really ...

Julian Brazier | 490 c381 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a powerful case. Is he aware that a delegation of shipping and shipping-rel...

Robert Neill | 490 c379-80 (Link to this contribution) I think the LGA is very willing to help and it has encouraged good practice. It also supported my ho...

Lord Mann | 490 c380 (Link to this contribution) In the interim, what advice would the hon. Gentleman give to councils or local authorities of all pa...

Speaker | 490 c375 (Link to this contribution) I must inform the House that Mr. Speaker has selected the amendment in the name of the Prime Ministe...

Robert Neill | 490 c375 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House notes with concern that the effect of the five per cent. rise in busi...

Robert Key | 490 c375 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend recognise that the debate is also timely because it is a quarter day? Up and dow...

Robert Neill | 490 c375-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point. The Government's amendment, which I shall come to later, makes a ...

Robert Goodwill | 490 c377 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that the hospitality industry, including pubs and restaurants, is especially...

Richard Shepherd | 490 c377 (Link to this contribution) When my hon. Friend's mother was running her shop all those years ago, the business rate was a local...

Robert Neill | 490 c384 (Link to this contribution) I have been more than generous in giving way to the hon. Gentleman, so I shall not do so again now—h...

Robert Neill | 490 c384 (Link to this contribution) What is most reprehensible is that the Treasury cut the amount of funding available for LABGI by suc...

Lord Mann | 490 c384 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Robert Neill | 490 c384-5 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to do that, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I have deliberately sought to take as many interventions ...

John Healey | 490 c385 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from "House" to the end of the Question and add:""notes tha...

Robert Neill | 490 c384 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has had two bites at the cherry, which is more than generous. I do not think I am...

Speaker | 490 c384 (Link to this contribution) Order. Two-way conversations from sedentary positions are not just boring; they are not allowed in t...

Robert Neill | 490 c384 (Link to this contribution) I do not want the hon. Gentleman to get self stuck in the position he is currently in, as he might h...

Robert Neill | 490 c381-2 (Link to this contribution) I am aware of that as it has been raised by my hon. Friend and a number of Members who sit on the La...

Mark Field | 490 c382 (Link to this contribution) While I entirely agree with all the concerns that my hon. Friend has expressed about retrospection, ...

Robert Neill | 490 c382 (Link to this contribution) What we have said is that we should postpone action so that we maintain the 2005 values until 2010. ...

Lord Mann | 490 c383 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Lord Mann | 490 c384 (Link to this contribution) Well, in that case I suppose I should thank the hon. Gentleman for his generosity. On the LABGI sche...

John Healey | 490 c382-3 (Link to this contribution) I understand why the hon. Gentleman might want to have a dry run of a full debate we will have on th...

Robert Neill | 490 c383 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is game as ever, but he does not address the key points. The issue of the separate rati...

John Healey | 490 c383 (Link to this contribution) It is not new; it is an established part of the ratings system—it has been so in this period, and it...

Robert Neill | 490 c383 (Link to this contribution) I know the Minister has his back to the wall, but, if I may say so, he really is struggling a bit. I...

Ian Pearson | 490 c413-4 (Link to this contribution) Today's debate demonstrates the strength of feeling among all Members of the House on the subject of...

Mark Prisk | 490 c411-3 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. He shows his business experience. If people are not advise...

Lord McLoughlin | 490 c414 (Link to this contribution) claimed to move the closure (Standing Order No. 36). Question put forthwith, That the Question be n...

Brian Binley | 490 c408-9 (Link to this contribution) I have a quick and simple message for those on the Government Front Bench. I want to concentrate on ...

Richard Shepherd | 490 c407-8 (Link to this contribution) Shortly after university I started a small retail company. It is still going, and I remain a directo...

Lord Deben | 490 c411 (Link to this contribution) I represent Felixstowe, which is a major port. Is not the problem that the tax is retrospective, so ...

Mark Prisk | 490 c409-11 (Link to this contribution) This debate has been short, but timely. It has shown that the Government's policies on business rate...

Andrew Selous | 490 c405-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall be brief because I know that time is short. I represent an area where, sadly, the unemployme...

William Cash | 490 c404 (Link to this contribution) I, too, have been having meetings with the Stafford chamber of commerce, as I am sure the hon. Gentl...

David Kidney | 490 c404-5 (Link to this contribution) Well, the hon. Gentleman can see how I vote later on. As a Labour MP, I support the Labour Governmen...

David Kidney | 490 c403-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Peter Luff). I am only sorry that...

Speaker | 490 c385 (Link to this contribution) Order. May I repeat what I said earlier? If anybody wishes to intervene, it is much better for the s...

Richard Shepherd | 490 c387 (Link to this contribution) The problem is clearly focused in small businesses, and many of my hon. Friends are very concerned a...

Lord Mann | 490 c388 (Link to this contribution) May I say how delighted I am to hear my right hon. Friend reiterate that the Government will do what...

John Healey | 490 c389 (Link to this contribution) I can understand the reaction of business people in Bassetlaw. If what my hon. Friend says about his...

Robert Neill | 490 c383 (Link to this contribution) Yes I will, although I think I have been fairly generous.

Robert Neill | 490 c377 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right—all the surrounding evidence supports his point. Again, it is worth noting t...

Subjects

Companies

Business

Increases

Business rates

Small businesses

Valuation

Retail trade

Rents

Economic recession

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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