Clause 18
Business Rate Supplements Bill
9:30 am
Dan Rogerson (North Cornwall, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment 18, in clause 18, page 12, line 41, leave out ‘March’ and insert ‘January’.
The amendment seeks to examine the question of when the billing authority gets formal notice of the intention to charge a levy. My understanding of the Bill is that the levying authority has until the end of February in the calendar year in which the BRS will come into force, which is in the April. That is a concern because when people are given late deadlines, things can creep towards it; my thought is to bring that deadline back to the start of the calendar year so that the billing authorities have more notice. I say that because, for example, where a ballot is to be held, and it is not clear whether the BRS will go ahead, it may take the billing authority a considerable amount of work to put things in place in order to enact it. It is a straightforward amendment that allows the billing authorities a little more leeway in getting prepared for things to run smoothly when the BRS comes in at the beginning of the financial year.