Clause 10
Business Rate Supplements Bill
5:15 pm
Philip Dunne (Whip, Whips; Ludlow, Conservative)
Will the Minister enlighten the Committee on the thinking behind making the rules and, in particular, variations on ballots so different from the balloting process applying to BIDs? In particular, I am concerned that variations could be used, if a project overruns its original cost estimate, to extend the applicability of the BRS to a wider range of businesses that might not be consulted on the variation because they were not consulted on the original ballot. If I understand correctly, the beauty of the BIDs balloting process is that it is a dual voting system. Businesses not liable to pay the bids levy have the opportunity to vote, because as they grow they might become eligible for the scheme. A dual balloting system allows rapidly growing businesses that would have been eligible at the time of the original ballot, had they been that big at the time, to have a voice. Looking into the future, flexibility in the rules on variations, as in the BIDs model, would have some merit.