I thank the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, for bringing the amendments on penalties forward because a number of questions around compliance and the penalties regime have been drawn to our attention. One is how it aligns with the wider UK tax regime generally. Another is that a new criminal offence is being created here, but is that actually necessary? Is this not covered by existing legislation and existing criminal charges, for example? I am more broadly probing why we need a new offence here.
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Of course, valuation officers can apply a civil penalty by serving a penalty notice, providing that they are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the person has committed the offence. Again, the question is whether that valuation officer the right person to make that judgment. How are they being supported in making
that judgment, for example? How are they getting information, and how do we guarantee that that judgment is being exercised in a consistent manner? We would be interested to have some clarification of that.
The summary of responses in the technical consultation says that the penalties have to be a “last resort”, with earlier steps taken to support ratepayers in meeting their obligations. It lists things such as the “electronic reminder”, hard-copy and digital warnings, and so on. It is welcome that we have these safeguards before that penalty route, but my concern is that none of that is set in the legislation, and I wonder why it was not clearly laid out in the Bill. If we are going to build trust in the VOA, it is important that people have a clear understanding and clarification of exactly how the penalty system will operate and that it is clear and consistent right across the board.
I asked about the definition of “occupied” and “unoccupied” earlier, so I will ask for one clarification. For unoccupied properties, the technical consultation noted that the VOA may need
“information about … intended use and how it is expected to be occupied”,
with the extent of the information required depending on the nature of the property. So, unless the use of the building is relatively restricted, and therefore its future use is apparent—a storage unit, for example—the intended use could span a number of different uses. So the question is what would the consequences be if the intended and actual use differed in relation to the terms of the penalties? I can see someone frowning—I hope I am being clear. Perhaps we can pick this up at a later date if I am not being completely clear about this. It is just in case there is a difference between what you say you will use it for and then, ultimately, what you do use it for.