Clause 6 - Short title, commencement and extent
Rating (Agricultural Premises and Rural Shops) Bill
12:30 pm
Mr Damian Green (Ashford, Conservative)
The purpose of the amendments is to inject a degree of certainty and predictability into the process by which relief is given.
Amendment No. 8 would insert a commencement date of 30 October, and amendment No. 9 is largely consequential. There is no particular magic about the dates, but it seems desirable to introduce a degree of certainty. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has said that, under the Bill, rural food shops, farm businesses considering diversification and those that have recently established a diversified business are uncertain about their potential liability for business rates. To provide a degree of predictability, one should set a specific commencement date; and a powerful argument for that is that it would enable people to plan their business with slightly more certainty. We have constantly said that if the Bill is to be effective, it should encourage as much diversification as it can.
The NFU has a further argument in favour of such certainty. That is that businesses have to go through sometimes lengthy planning procedures before they can demonstrate the practical effects of diversification. The union is concerned that if the commencement date is earlier than expected, individuals who are going through the planning process might lose many months or even years of potential rate relief due to the Government's insistence on the five-year limit.
Either way, we can argue for a specific date. We are not wedded to a particular date, but it would be good to know that Ministers accept the argument for that degree of certainty, and I hope that they will say what they regard as an appropriate commencement date.