5:31 pm
Blake Penfold: There is one point that I would like to make, which is a practical point. Assuming that this Bill is passed, the burden of paying the supplement will rest with the ratepayer—that is, the tenant. It is potentially a substantial administrative burden as well as a financial one. For example, Home Retail Group—Argos—would be asked to pay about 120 supplements across the Greater London authority area.
For the simplicity of the system and for the administrative benefit of supplement payers, I believe that there would be merit in considering making all provisions regarding billing, collection and enforcement sit alongside those ordinary billing, collection and enforcement regulations on normal non-domestic rates. At the moment, BIDs payers suffer from a degree of uncertainty about issues such as what happens when a rateable value changes, what the due dates are and whether payments are allowed by instalments. If the supplement could default to the billing, collection and enforcement arrangements applicable to NDR, that would represent considerable simplicity for taxpayers in budgeting and in making payments.