Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill

Mary Robinson Excerpts

2nd reading: House of Commons & Programme motion: House of Commons & Ways and Means resolution: House of Commons
Monday 23rd April 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mary Robinson (Cheadle) (Con)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way and for his eloquent and wide-ranging speech. Does he agree about what is at the heart of this matter? He talks about Walsall, but in my constituency, in Cheadle and Cheadle Hulme and the surrounding districts, we also want to see some regeneration of our centres. We want to see people going into the centres, living there, and opening up businesses that can thrive. We want the district centres to look appealing and attractive and have people living and shopping there and utilising them.

[Eddie Hughes]

I am simply amazed. My hon. Friend is blessed either with psychic ability or intuition. That is the very point that I was about to move on to. In Beechdale, one of the wards in my constituency—

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[Michelle Donelan]

Yes. I completely agree. The point was made earlier that it is so important for these businesses to get back the money they are owed as soon as possible, so that they can continue to flourish. These changes will also reinstate small business rate relief for ratepayers who no longer met the conditions for the relief as a direct result of the VOA’s change in practice, and they can apply for that themselves. What will be really important in how successful the Bill proves to be is how much we spread the message out to the local business community about their option to ask for a recalculation and get this money back.

[Mary Robinson]

My hon. Friend is making such an important point, and it goes to the heart of what these small businesses are doing in our high streets and district centres. We want to support high street shops, which face such tough competition at the moment, and do anything we can do to help them, give them the reassurance they need and enable them to keep more of their hard-earned cash, because we know that, without those shops being successful, we will not have the bubbling and vivacious high streets that we need.

[Michelle Donelan]

I completely agree. My constituency has four market towns and our high streets have suffered. The Bill sends a message out to local high street business owners and all small businesses that this Government are behind them, supporting them, and recognise that they are the backbone of our economy.

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[Michelle Donelan]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend.

[Mary Robinson]

Following on from the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Alan Mak), I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman). We really need to concentrate on the value that we can put into this market, which can be filled by this Bill, and ensure that people who need those homes are given them in a way that suits them and fulfils their aspirations. The Government have announced £28 million of funding for the Housing First project, some of which will go to a pilot scheme in Manchester. Does my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan) agree that it will be interesting to see how the Mayor of Manchester approaches the issue and whether he will use that to fill those homes and to get homeless people into them?

[Michelle Donelan]

I completely agree that it will be very interesting to watch the actions of the Mayor of Manchester and the impact of his work, and to look at other cities around the country.