Local Government Finance Bill

John Bercow Excerpts

Wednesday 31st October 2012 Commons Chamber

Consideration of Lords amendments

[Mr Speaker]

I must draw the House’s attention to the fact that financial privilege is involved in Lords amendments 1, 2, 4, 5 10 and 19 to 85. If the House agrees them, I will cause an appropriate entry to be made in the Journal.

Clause 1

Local retention of non-domestic rates

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)]

I beg to move, That this House agrees with Lords amendment 1.

[Mr Speaker]

With this it will be convenient to consider Lords amendments 2 and 19 to 82.

[Brandon Lewis]

This group contains all the amendments made in the other place to the provisions allowing for a business rates retention scheme. The scheme will, for the first time in a generation, allow local areas to share in the proceeds of growth. Continuing the precedent set when the Bill was considered in this House, each amendment was introduced by the Government to make the changes that we believed would improve the Bill. The majority of the amendments are highly technical and, in several cases, have been introduced in direct response to the discussions that we have continued to hold with local government on the operation of the scheme. Other recommendations give effect to local government’s preferred approach or, in one case, to a recommendation of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee.

Owing to their largely technical nature, I do not plan to explain each amendment in the group in detail—though I could be tempted—but I will outline what they do. They enable the Government to deliver on our commitment fully to fund the five-year discount on business rates up to the state aid de minimis level for businesses moving to an enterprise zone before April 2015. They provide for the scheme to operate on local government’s preferred administrative approach. That approach—the collection fund approach—is currently used for council tax, and so is familiar to it, and works well. They also provide for the appropriate assurance of calculation and information supplied under the business rates retention scheme.

The amendments will also clarify some points of detail for local government. In particular, they will remove any ambiguity about the basis on which local authorities can apply for a safety net payment on account—an important process. Authorities anticipate that they will need safety net support and will be able to access that support before the end of the financial year, and to simplify the arrangements for designing a pool without reducing the safeguards in place for pool authorities by removing the duty to undertake consultation with those likely to be affected by a pooling designation or revocation and in direct response to strongly held views of local government on this point.

Taken together, these technical amendments to the non-domestic rating provisions will give effect to smooth implementation of the rates retention scheme, and I urge hon. Members to agree to them.

--- Later in debate ---

It has rightly been observed that this proposal is by no means the only element in what is a considerable stream of technical amendments in this group. It would probably be appropriate if I now dealt with the others as best I can—unless I stray off course, Mr Speaker, although I know that you will not let me do that.

[Mr Speaker]

We are all looking forward to the development of the hon. Gentleman’s further arguments with eager anticipation.

[Robert Neill]

I am grateful to you, Mr Speaker.

--- Later in debate ---

Lords amendments 4 to 91 agreed to, with Commons financial privileges waived in respect of Lords amendments 4, 5, 10 and 19 to 85.

[Mr Speaker]

We come now to motion 4 on the Order Paper.

[Brandon Lewis]

I beg to move the motion formally.

[Mr Speaker]

I am extremely grateful to the Minister and I did wonder whether he had had a rather urgent job swap, but he has not. We are grateful to him for his conscientiousness, but he is not needed at this stage.