Clause 6
Business Rate Supplements Bill
4:30 pm
Philip Dunne (Whip, Whips; Ludlow, Conservative)
It may seem strange to rise on a point that, on first sight, appears to be somewhat obtuse. Having said that, we should remember when we draft legislation that the language we use will govern the conduct of local authorities for years if not decades to come and it needs to be as precise as possible.
I have considerable difficulty with repeated use of “think”. I have served on a local authority and I know the processes involved in arriving at decisions when such subjective language is left in legislation. It is possible for an authority’s view to be determined through a process of discussion and, if necessary, vote-taking in a council chamber or committee. “Consider” or “demonstrate” imply that a process has been followed appropriately by the authority, whereas “think” is capable of interpretation by a layman such as I. I do not have the benefit of my hon. Friend’s exposure to interpretation of legislation, and we are merely here to assist Ministers in drafting it, but using more precise language, which implies that a process has been gone through rather than just thought about, would seem to me to be more appropriate. I hope that the Minister will reflect on that and recognise that none of the amendments is contentious and they could, therefore, be accepted.