My Lords, group 3 concerns information sharing between the Valuation Office Agency and ratepayers, the performance and capacity of the VOA, and the behaviour of some of our rating agents. Central to this part of the Bill is our commitment to move to more frequent revaluations, delivered by Clause 5. As we have discussed, sustainably delivering this important goal is contingent on increasing the timeliness and quality of the information received by the VOA.
To ensure that the VOA has that timely and complete flow of information, Clause 13 introduces a duty on ratepayers to provide notifiable information to the VOA and to confirm each year that they have met their obligations under that duty. In return, Clause 10 provides the means for ratepayers to access an analysis of evidence used to set the rateable value for their property, which should reduce the need for ratepayers to make a challenge. Ratepayers will be able to access guidance from the VOA, provide information on their property and request evidence on their own valuations, all through an online service. This will be the same online portal through which ratepayers will also be able to provide their taxpayer reference number to meet the other duty introduced by Clause 13.
The noble Earl, Lord Lytton, asked about information if you have more than one property. The VOA will seek to enable ratepayers with multiple properties to provide information about their properties at the same time every 30 days, to limit their administrative burden. We have listened to requests from stakeholders for this functionality, and we recognise that there is also a benefit for the VOA from receiving information in this way. We will work with businesses, agents and software suppliers to rebuild a robust and effective system for ratepayers. The deadline for notification of the underlying changes will remain at the now-increased 60 days, and the same deadline will apply to all, regardless of the means of notification.
I turn to Amendments 18 to 20. As I have set out, Clause 13 includes a requirement on the ratepayers to confirm once a year that they have provided the information required of them—this will be digitally, to respond to the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman—under the VOA duty. Amendments 18, 19 and 20 from the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Etherton, would remove that requirement. I shall explain why this part of the duty is necessary.
5.45 pm
Annual confirmation will support ratepayers to comply with the new VOA duty by providing an opportunity to supply, correct or update any information they should have provided during the year. This is part of a range of measures that will ensure the VOA has enough data to deliver more accurate and more frequent valuations. It is important that all ratepayers participate in providing information, so that the VOA has the information it needs to value comparable properties accurately and to ensure that ratepayers are paying the right tax and benefiting from any reliefs they may be entitled to.
For most ratepayers, annual confirmation should be very straightforward, simply requiring them to confirm that they have complied with the duty. Where there have been no changes, this should take only a few minutes, and ratepayers will not have to resubmit information already provided. The annual confirmation process will not be introduced until we have ensured that it will be sufficiently straightforward for ratepayers to complete. The commencement powers allow us to commence annual confirmation separately from and later than the rest of the information duty.
I turn to Amendments 15 and 17 from the noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Etherton, and Amendment 16 from the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, and the noble and learned Lord, which relate to Clause 10. As I have said, this clause will allow valuation officers to share information with ratepayers to help them understand the rateable value of their property and how it has been determined. Amendments 15 and 16 would make it obligatory for the VOA to share information used in valuation. Amendment 17 provides that the VOA can use as valuation evidence only information which it is prepared to share with ratepayers in the interests of transparency. I fully understand the instinct for maximum transparency, but I will briefly explain why we have drafted the Bill in this way.
First, improving transparency is an important part of the reform of business rates, because it will allow the VOA to go further in demystifying and explaining the rating valuation system. Access to the evidence underpinning their valuation will allow ratepayers to make an informed judgment as to whether to make a challenge. This measure, therefore, has widespread support from stakeholders and is seen as an essential step in business rate reform. However, it is important to strike the right balance between sharing valuation information and protecting sensitive and personal data.
Currently, the VOA is barred from sharing this information outside of a formal challenge because it is data belonging to taxpayers. Release of such information may constitute wrongful disclosure under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005. In amending the law, we have not lost sight of the fact that this remains taxpayer data and may be sensitive or commercially important to landlords and other ratepayers.
That is why we have included safeguards to recognise the potentially sensitive nature of some of this data. In particular, it is important that the gateway is “permissive” so that the valuation officer is not under a duty to
share the information but is permitted to do so. The VOA recently consulted to invite views on how it might best make use of this permissive power, in a way that balances transparency with the protection of sensitive taxpayer data. Clause 10 also includes the safeguards that disclosure cannot happen if it would contravene data protection legislation, protecting personal data rights, and that information is available on request via a secure online service. I trust that my answer explains why these safeguards are appropriate.
Amendment 28, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, and the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, and Amendment 33, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, and the noble Lord, are focused on the performance of the VOA and its resourcing. I assure the Committee that the VOA is being fully resourced to deliver the additional responsibilities that it will have as a result of the reforms in the Bill. The agency received half a billion pounds of funding at the last spending review—and I can tell the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, that that included funding for upgrades to its IT infrastructure and digital capabilities. It has also been provided with £80 million pounds of funding for the 2026 revaluation.
The VOA is already subject to extensive reporting requirements. As an executive agency of HMRC reporting to the Treasury, the VOA has a legal obligation to prepare an annual report and accounts, which are laid in Parliament. In the annual report, the VOA reports against its performance measures and targets as well as its statutory deadlines for check and challenge. The report for 2021-22 was published in December 2022 and is available on the VOA’s website. The VOA met or exceeded all its targets in respect of business rates. Throughout the 2017 lists the VOA resolved the vast majority of its cases within the statutory deadlines, more than 99.9% of checks within the 12-month target and more than 98% of challenge cases within the 18-month target. The current targets are of course based around its existing business. I assure the Committee that the Government will review the targets with the introduction of the new duty to ensure they continue to drive strong performance from the VOA effectively.
Finally, Amendment 34, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, raises the issue of rogue agents. The amendment would require the Secretary of State to consult on the implications of putting in place a system of accreditation for business rates advisers. This is primarily aimed at exploring ways to combat the rogue and unprofessional practices of some rating advisers. Most rating agents are legitimate organisations registered with a professional body; they provide a valuable service to their clients and contribute to the effective operation of the tax. Nevertheless, we know that some agents seek to take advantage of their clients through predatory practices, using exploitative contracts or actively promoting rate mitigation strategies. We therefore provide advice on GOV.UK on appointing an agent. In this, we make it clear that ratepayers should take care in ensuring they appoint a reputable agent. We say in that guidance that the Rating Surveyors’ Association, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation all work to a set of standards. We repeat this advice whenever appropriate throughout government material
on business rates, and the new duty in this Bill will give the VOA new contacts with ratepayers with which to relay this message.
In addition, the Government will very shortly be consulting on avoidance and evasion in the business rates system, meeting the commitment made by the Chancellor at the Spring Budget. As I clarified at Second Reading, this consultation will include agent behaviour in its scope. The consultation will seek to understand evidence of the nature and scale of any rogue or unprofessional practices in the business rates system and identify action the Government could take to combat this behaviour within the system.
I trust that I have addressed the many points raised by noble Lords, and I am grateful for the engagement we have had previously on the issues. I ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.