Clause 14
Business Rate Supplements Bill
Public Bill Committees, 27 January 2009, 6:30 pm
John Healey (Minister of State (Local Government), Department for Communities and Local Government; Wentworth, Labour)
The clause may seem inconsequential, particularly as “supplementary” is in its title, but it is important for this reason: subsection (6) places an upper limit on the multiplier for any single BRS imposed by a levying authority of 0.02, or 2p in the pound of rateable value. That is where the cap will be applied. Subsection (7) places the same overall upper limit on all business rates supplements imposed by a levying authority in a financial year if there is more than one. Finally, in addition, subsection (8) provides that, where a levying authority levies in a year a supplement or supplements that are lower than the overall 2p ceiling, individual supplements cannot increase above the amount specified in the final BRS prospectus for the year, or in line with a variation under clause 10. Those are important points to put on the record, and I hope that they are helpful to the Committee.