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Business Rate Supplements Bill
5:30 pm
Mark Field (Cities of London and Westminster, Conservative)
I wish to follow up the point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst, which he made very well. We are clearly in more difficult economic times. The Minister is right—I agree with my hon. Friend in that regard—that it is better to have flexibility in the Bill rather than take up the superficially attractive proposition made by the Liberal Democrats.
What was the thinking behind the £50,000 limit? Was it intended to encompass a certain proportion of business, or is there something else implicit in that sum? It is in no one’s interests to talk the economy down, but if it were to happen in the retail sector, would it have a significant impact by bringing more businesses within the BRS fold? In the Government’s mind, are the provisions currently designed so that a certain proportion of businesses should fall foul of or come within the BRS area?
Let me add that one reason why I left earlier today—some slightly cheerier economic news—was that I had a lunch at the Regent Street Association, a big retail association. Its news was much more positive than some of the more gloomy retail news that one hears. [Interruption.] I would certainly not use that word, and the Under-Secretary would be most ill-advised to use it—hopefully it will not appear on the record.
I had a point, however. Where retailers are flexible, have a quality offering and, in fairness as in central London, have a large tourist market—we have felt the benefit of a lot of European and American tourists coming here, our currency having devalued in recent months—the situation is somewhat less gloomy than many of our newspapers and other media outlets would have us believe. That is not to be in any way complacent, but there is a mixed picture.
I was trying to get to the bottom of the Government’s thought processes. Were they trying to attract a certain proportion of businesses into BRS, or was there something magical in their own mind, at this juncture, about the £50,000 limit?