My Lords, I start by thanking the Minister for a very full and clear explanation of the order we are considering today. Like the Government, we very much support neighbourhood planning and the engagement of business with that. However, it is important that we do not make the process overly bureaucratic and expensive. In introducing this, the noble Lord referred to the fact that 500 places were developing a neighbourhood plan. How many business districts have been created to date? I am just trying to see the dynamics of that. Can the Minister tell us how the timing works? If a neighbourhood plan is being developed but there is a business district component, or a potential one, how does that all work? If the plan is some way to being finalised, does that preclude a business district coming in? Presumably the idea is to get the business district there at the start. Given that nothing like 500 business districts have been created yet, how does that all work in practice?
I have one or two questions on the specifics of the regulations. It is clear that there is one vote per business, however many separate hereditaments are involved. How does that work within a group? Are separate members of a group separate voters for this purpose or is there some sort of aggregation of that for connected parties or formal group companies? What happens if a business goes into administration? Is it then precluded from participating? Presumably, that depends a little on what stage the administration has reached.
In Part 2, in Regulation 8(2)(c), there is a requirement to specify the rateable value. Why is that? Presumably that itself is not relevant to the entitlement to vote. What happens to a hereditament that is entitled to 100% relief on one basis or another? Does that still create an entitlement to vote under these regulations? I think the question has to be the same for individual voters and a voter on behalf of a business hereditament but perhaps the noble Lord could confirm that.
Obviously, we broadly support the thrust of these regulations but I would be grateful if the Minister could say a little more about the dynamics of how these fit together, how that is working in practice with all this activity in the development of neighbourhood plans and how business districts so far are fitting into that.