New Clause 2
Planning-gain Supplement (Preparations) Bill
4:45 pm
Mark Francois (Shadow Minister, Treasury; Rayleigh, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
The new clause seeks to introduce a sunset provision into the Bill to time-limit its provisions if the Government do not resolve to go ahead with the introduction of the planning gain supplement by spring 2008. I reiterate that we are opposed in principle to its introduction, but given that the Budget statement now usually takes place in March, this provision would give the Government several chances to confirm their intention to go ahead with the PGS before the sunset clause would come into operation, effectively cutting off the expenditure permitted by the Bill.
Although the Government could in theory make a decision and provide an accompanying statement whenever the House is sitting, the window of opportunity provided by our proposal would mean in practice that they would use Budget 2007, pre-Budget report 2007 and Budget 2008 to clarify their intentions on the planning gain supplement before the sunset clause kicked in. After that time, if the Treasury was still undecided on whether or not to go ahead, the opportunity to spend money allowed for under this paving Bill would be lost.
Given that the Treasury has already been discussing the possibility of introducing the planning gain supplement for three years, it does not seem unreasonable to seek to put a backstop on the decision process, lest the Treasury go round in circles for even longer.