Clause 47 - BID levy
Local Government Bill
8:55 am
Mr Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold, Conservative)
As my right hon. Friend says, under this Government, if houses remain empty for more than a week, they will be confiscated. Then owners will not be non-domestic ratepayers at all. The Government will completely forfeit any money that they may have raised, which would be entirely self-defeating.
Nevertheless, it is worth establishing who will vote, and the arrangements that will be made for empty properties. What arrangements will be made for exceptional circumstances, such as flooding, riots, civil commotion or terrorist attacks? There appears to be no power in the Bill to suspend or cease a BID. Perhaps the Minister will explain what the Government would have in mind in such circumstances.