Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Lord Burnett and Lord McKenzie of Luton

Monday 28th January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord McKenzie of Luton]

It seems to me that the value comes from the granting of planning permission in respect of the land. If you are going to argue that that has to be shared by the community as a whole, not just the local community, surely you need mechanisms to get that value raised and to redistribute it. You could not do it on the basis of the current tax system.

This takes me back to a point that I was going to make on the amendment. I recall that when I first went on Luton Council, in the mid-1970s, we had something called the Community Land Act, as I recall it, and the development land tax. It was then very much the name of the game for developers to go and dig a trench to demonstrate that they had started their development before those provisions kicked in. Normally, there was a photograph taken with somebody holding up a copy of the Times, or whatever, to validate that this was when they had actually dug the trench.

[Lord Burnett]

I wonder whether the noble Lord recalls that I referred to the development land tax at Second Reading. It was a good example of the fact that where you have prohibitively high rates of taxation—I think the rate of development land tax was about 80%—it actually sterilised development so that building just did not take place. That was the downturn to which I think the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, was referring.

[Lord McKenzie of Luton]

We did very well out of it in Luton, I am bound to say, but I should stress that it is not Labour Party policy to reintroduce this tax. We should get that clearly on the record.

So far as the amendment is concerned, I agree with the provision to make sure that there are mechanisms to clearly identify when there is a commencement of development. What I was not sure about, having looked at Section 56 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, is whether that overrides all the other things listed there as the commencement of development. For example, that section says that,

“‘material operation’ means … the digging of a trench which is to contain the foundations, or part of the foundations”.

I think that the noble Lord, Lord Best, referred to that but I am not sure whether his amendment overrides it. It would technically seem to need to do that to get the solution that the noble Lord is seeking—a solution with which I agree.

There are a range of broader points but I will forgo the opportunity now for my clause stand part debate and come back there as we go through the amendments in due course.

Growth and Infrastructure Bill

Debate between Lord Burnett and Lord McKenzie of Luton

Monday 28th January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord McKenzie of Luton]

My Lords, Amendment 55BC is concerned with criteria for evaluating viability. Given our earlier discussions, I do not see any great merit here and now in delving into the RICS draft guidance note on financial viability and where that might lead us. The particular purpose of this amendment is to see that there is some parliamentary process which sets out the framework for the criteria rather than just guidance—I think guidance is the preferred choice of the Liberal Democrat amendments.

I will leave it there tonight but it would be extremely important to have a chance before we get to Report to at least see some outlying guidance or direction of travel from the Government so that we do not have to revisit this in detail on Report. I still hang on to my point about how to divide viability among the various components and what that means. That is an issue that we will come back to, but on that basis I beg to move.

[Lord Burnett]

I gather that there has been a consultation paper and consultations have closed. I understand that there might be a government response. Can my noble friend let me know when that response is likely to be published? I am led to believe that it might be next month. Can my noble friend help me on that?