Did you mean "business rate"?
Mr James Maxton: ...farming could not pay its way and that this industry must be specially financed, with long-term credits and short-term credits, that the ordinary banks were not prepared to risk at ordinary business rates; and again they come to this House of Commons, that must not interfere with financial operations, because they are too sacred, this House that must not dare to step into these places...
Captain Sidney Streatfeild: Is my Noble Friend aware that those facilities given to the agricultural community are at residential rates and not at business rates?
Residential Rates per quarter. Business Rates per quarter. £ s. d. £ s. d. In the Provinces 1 0 0 1 12 0 In the four large cities 1 3 0 1 15 0 In London 1 6 0 1 18 0
Mr John Hare: The hon. Member has indicated that he comes from an urban area, but if he will read the White Paper in detail he will see how the standard man-days are worked out in terms of cattle, sheep, kale, pigs and other commodities. The reading will not prove quite so difficult as the hon. Member thinks. There will be snags and, of course, we shall learn as we proceed. That is why the Bill is drawn...
Mr Rafton Pounder: ..., but it was bordering on the ridiculous when a number of large organisations were enjoying rating relief when they were well able to afford to make a contribution and thus relieve some of the business rates, particularly as with Government concerns it was a mere contra-entry in the book. I welcome the endeavour to bring this more into line with British practice. The most important point...
Hon. Robert Boscawen: ...a better deal for the consumer also involved the cost of running and maintaining the house in which he lives. My constituents are alarmed by the grossly inflationary increases in both domestic and business rates in our area. Our county and district authorities have done their best to contain the increases within the limits recommended by the last Government. They have taken a great deal...
Mrs Lynda Chalker: .... I want to see those with whom we are concerned today, people who want to do well for themselves, getting encouragement. As contributions of various kinds, be they fiscal measures, increased business rates, rising interest charges, or the difficulty of getting a loan from the bank, all encroach upon them, the Government are placing on top a very steep rise which could have been avoided if...
Hon. John Silkin: ...could, let me ask the hon. Member for Ashford (Mr. Speed) whether he can cite a single occasion when the Government of which he was a member sent a circular to local authorities asking them to allow business rates to be paid by instalments. I have checked and I have found that there was not one occasion. It comes as a curious argument that a Government who, within five weeks of taking...
Mr Geoffrey Howe: ...about 6 million people or a quarter of our work force—are, and feel themselves to be, facing a combination of burdens which they regard as profoundly unfair: hugely increased local government business rates, increased income and corporation taxes, high interest rates, capital transfer tax and the prospect of a wealth tax. They also see a particular injustice in the decision by the...
Mr Norman Fowler: ...to tackle inflation, because it is this failure which has wreaked havoc among the self-employed. High taxes now hit them on the one hand and inflation on the other. Inflation has helped to send business rates soaring and has placed massive new burdens on virtually every self-employed person. What is worst about the Government's attitude is not only their refusal to act or even to...
Mr Anthony Grant: ...firms, there are certain problems which are especially unfortunate in London. The first is that rents and rates are exceptionally high. In particular, the business rate is much too high. Overall business rates in the last year have increased by 55 per cent. throughout the country and a lot more in London. I believe there is one area in which the rate has increased by over 200 per cent. I...
Mr Geoffrey Howe: .... Gentleman goes if he does not hear business men up and down the country saying that one of the most formidable costs that they face is the soaring cost of local government and above all of local business rates. We have an example clearly before our eyes in the huge rate increases being imposed upon businesses and householders alike in the London borough of Lambeth. Is it not a legitimate...
Mr John Heddle: ...and commercial sector, by business men nation-wide, and particularly by business men in the West Midlands. I must tell the House of the deep concern felt by many firms about the increases in business rates that they have had to bear, not only from high-spending and extravagant authorities—of which we have heard much—but from authorities generally. I must also tell the House of the...
Mr John Browne: ...increases, particularly in the average price increases in the private sector, where so-called monetarism is working effectively. There have been outrageous increases in rates, particularly business rates. I am glad to hear that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is determined to take action on rates. High interest rates have always hurt economically...
Mr Robert Sheldon: ...a scale not seen for generations. This is a sensible way to use some of the moneys that can be raised, if necessary, by our North Sea oil assets. The rate support grant will cost £400 million on business rates. The national insurance contribution will cost industry £200 million. These are burdens on industry as opposed to the advantages that were to come from a Conservative Government....
Mr Tom King: I have no plans to do so. Legislation to set a ceiling on increases in business rates would not necessarily achieve our aim of getting high-spending local authorities to reduce the level of their spending, and could in certain circumstances lead to intolerable burdens on the domestic ratepayer.
Jack Straw: ...sense are quite distinct from all other costs to which companies are likely to be liable. Although we may argue about the impact of rates on companies, we all accept that one of the problems with business rates is that, unlike most other costs, they are not directly—in some cases they are hardly indirectly—related to total turnover in the way wages and the other costs of running a...
Mr David Howell: I shall continue, as the GLC aspect is important. Even the latest GLC ideas threaten a further huge burden on business rates—at least £70 million is estimated—and a hefty direct increase on the domestic ratepaying householder, who would pay four times what he or she used to pay in rates for transport. There is a strong danger that that could lead to another cycle of chaos in our capital...
Mr Iain Mills: ..."Alternatives to Domestic Rates", to which we have had no formal response, was on domestic rates and did not tackle the more difficult and fundamental problem of the high cost of industrial and business rates. I hope that my hon. Friend will relate that point to his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. [Interruption.] I welcome colleagues' sedentary comments of...
Mr David Howell: ...damage has been caused to employment. At a time when it should be the aim of all hon. Members to encourage employment, machinery has been in action which has undermined employment by increasing business rates, which are now the largest single cost to business and a direct attack on employment. For that reason, the Bill is urgently needed and I have no hesitation in commending it to the House.