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Business Rate Supplements Bill
5:30 pm
John Healey (Minister of State (Local Government), Department for Communities and Local Government; Wentworth, Labour)
Not as far as I am aware. Certainly no amendments have been proposed to the Bill from the other place; no doubt that will come. I was pleased to hear about the good lunch had by the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster and interested by the reflections of the people with him. Despite things being tough economically at the moment, it is something of a mixed picture. I know that better than most, having been at home last night in Rotherham, where the constituency faces 713 redundancies at the Corus works at Aldwarke in Parkgate. Incidentally, it is probably one of the most efficient steel-making plants in western Europe, producing some of the best steel anywhere in Europe. It is also true that many other companies are proving resilient to recession, including, I am glad to say, some in that constituency. We will return to the points that the hon. Gentleman was trying to make about the threshold when we reach clause 12, Mr. Atkinson, as you have encouraged us to do.
Finally, the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst referred to a concern about the impact on small companies, and he may recall how, in an earlier sitting, we dealt with the prospectus—the work, the analysis and the assessment that will have to be undertaken as part of any case that a BRS may support. That is where the work on the costs, the potential impact and the wider economic benefit of the businesses that may be liable for a BRS will have to be laid out. We are keen to encourage that. It is clearly an important part of the assessment of the pros and cons of any BRS and, on that basis, I hope that Members will be happy to allow the clause to stand part of the Bill.