New Clause 2
Planning-gain Supplement (Preparations) Bill
5:00 pm
John Healey (Financial Secretary, HM Treasury; Wentworth, Labour)
Again, I have some recognition of the concerns that lie behind the new clause. The hon. Member for Rayleigh said that his main concern was that no time limit or sunset point on the authorisation of expenditure is set in the Bill. My response, however, is similar to that on the previous new clause: in practice, I do not believe that a case can be made for it.
The Bill is not a blank cheque. I make it clear that, if the decision is taken not to introduce a planning gain supplement, no further expenditure will occur under the Bill. The Government do not spend significant sums on programmes unless we are sure that we want to proceed—the PGS is no different—and to do so would not be in our interests, nor in the wider national interest.
If we want to introduce a planning gain supplement within a reasonable time—it cannot be introduced before 2009, because we are committed to providing sufficient time for the markets to adapt to a prospective planning gain supplement—the decision to proceed must be taken in good time, depending on a satisfactory analysis of the consultation that we are undertaking.