5:19 pm
Dr. Grail: That presupposed that those who propose a BID can clearly demonstrate that for every pound they spend they get at least a pound back, and that is difficult to achieve and demonstrate. I am saying that what we are trying to do is look pragmatically at how we maintain a BIDs movement in this country, because we are in grave danger of losing it. That is how we could recognise that there is a compromise that we could achieve, so that the business community is not given carte blanche to create low-level BIDs but recognises at least some subsidy.
I think that it is an entirely different matter whether the business community supports business rates and what the relevance and focus of that is. How do we protect business improvement districts, which are working well in this country? Business communities, when faced with a 2p levy over which they have no choice and a 1p-ish levy on a BID, will vote against it in many cases at the moment. There are ways to try to safeguard that, at least in part.