5:31 pm
Jerry Schurder: We hear the views of business. We hear the views of others as well. We are a broad church. We represent property and are looking for the interest of fairness within the rating system—a system that should work for local government as well as central Government and businesses as ratepayers. We hear the call from businesses for a vote. In many cases, they obviously still feel discomfort with their relationships with local authorities, so that is their driver. They are understandably concerned about costs, and any suggestion of an imposition of costs in such difficult times as we are in at the moment worries them. For those reasons, they feel strongly that a vote is the best safeguard to ensure that, where such schemes come forward, they are asked which will be of benefit to them.
There is a track record, through the BID model, of ratepayers voting to pay more tax because they can see benefits. I can see that they would do the same, potentially, if they were offered a vote on business rate supplements. There would not be many business rate supplements in an area, so it is not as if there would be a large number of schemes to vote on, but it would focus the mind very much. Clearly a vote seems a sensible way forward, given the need to ensure that it was additional spending and that it would truly bring benefits to the local economy and, therefore, business.