In many senses the amendment brings us back to the debate on the definition of a general store and a post office which kept us busy for some time in Committee. We simply want the Government to think about the matter.

As it stands, the Bill makes it clear that to be eligible for mandatory rate relief a hereditament must fulfil several key conditions. It must be situated in a rural settlement with 3,000 people or fewer; it must be used as a general store or post office; it must be the only general store or post office within the settlement; and it must have a rateable value below an amount prescribed by the Secretary of State by order.

In Committee, we discussed in detail what was a post office or a general store. The argument about that definition relates to where such a facility may be located. We were concerned particularly about urban areas where relative social exclusion and social deprivation have meant that the role of the urban post office or general store is now similar to that of the village post office or village general store. The Government went some way towards trying to meet those concerns in Committee, for which we were, and are, grateful. They made it clear that the Secretary of State intends to designate rural areas even when they may fall within the boundary of a metropolitan district and be on the edge of a much larger conurbation.

In Committee, several of my hon. Friends raised that issue and were grateful for the Government's response. However, there remains the problem of urban estates that may be at the edge of a conurbation, but be isolated because their residents do not move from the estate very much. In Committee the Minister said that that issue could be tackled through the use of the single regeneration budget.

I have been considering the matter and I do not believe that the SRB is designed to help struggling general post offices or general stores in an urban area. The SRB is important in terms of raising an area's economic status and improving it generally. There is no doubt that, if that happens, the ability of the general store or post office to survive will improve, but the size of the SRB fund means that there is no chance of every estate with such a problem being able to use it. In addition, the SRB programme is designed to tackle much more comprehensive situations than the sort of problem that the Bill seeks to resolve.

I understood what the Minister was trying to say, but he did not give an adequate answer. I shall not seek to press the amendment to a vote, but I ask the Minister to recognise that the responses that we have received so far are not sufficient. Problems exist on some bleak and desolate urban estates that are similar to those of a rural village. It is the responsibility of the House not to forget that problem when we tackle similar problems in rural areas. It is in that spirit that I have moved the amendment.