Clause 43 - Arrangements with respect to business improvement districts
Local Government Bill
4:15 pm
Mr Desmond Swayne (New Forest West, Conservative)
I sense that the hon. Gentleman is drawing his remarks to a close and would like him to address an issue. In my constituency, there is a business park that has been causing a nuisance. Enforcement has been mentioned, but it has taken the district council some weeks to identify the owners. That can be done, although it is a practical difficulty. If I understood the hon. Gentleman correctly, he seems to be suggesting that if the BID promoters have the will to go through that process and identify those owners, they would have the right to tax those owners under his amendment. However, if the BID promoters do not have the will to do that, they can choose not to do so. It is an inequitable system if property owners will be taxed in some BIDs but not in others, largely because of the caprice of the BID promoters.