Moved by
That the Bill do now pass.
(Con)
My Lords, I am grateful to noble Lords on all Benches for their
co-operation on the Bill. The passage of the Bill will be a
significant milestone in the reform of business rates, following
our manifesto commitment and the subsequent Treasury review. When
the Government examined the business rates system, they did so in
the context of considerable upheaval due to the pandemic.
Nevertheless, several themes emerged from which the conclusions
of the review were formed.
The debates in this place have underlined the support for
measures to improve the responsiveness of business rates to
market changes. This was a key request from businesses during our
review, the central achievement of the Bill and something I
believe we can all be pleased to support.
With the first three-yearly revaluation cycle having now begun,
the Government are already developing the new systems for data
sharing that will enable regular three-yearly revaluations beyond
2026. Ratepayers and their representatives are the key
stakeholders in these reforms, and the Valuation Office Agency
will engage closely with them on the design of the future system.
It has been pleasing to note that, while there is understandable
appetite among noble Lords for even greater frequency, there is
also a recognition that implementing such major changes to a tax
requires a careful and incremental approach. I will repeat, then,
what I said on Report: the Government will monitor these changes
and keep the frequency of revaluations under consideration.
The Government’s review of business rates also identified the
opportunity to reduce or remove business rates liability where
this would support improvements to business premises or the
decarbonisation of buildings.
The Bill enables the remaining parts of this package—namely,
mandatory improvement relief and heat network relief—to be
delivered from 1 April next year. This is a key part of producing
a business rates system that better reflects our national
priorities.
The Bill of course will now return to the other place for
consideration of the Government’s amendments. As noble Lords are
aware, these are of a technical but nevertheless important
nature. That is true of much of this Bill, which shows the value
of the expertise that we have witnessed in debate. Therefore, I
will take the opportunity to repeat my thanks to the noble Earl,
, who identified those
improvements and who more generally has offered the benefit of
his considerable experience in rating to enrich the debates on
this Bill. I also extend similar thanks to the noble Lord, , and other expert
contributors to those debates, including the noble and learned
Lord, , and the noble Lord, .
I thank the Front-Benchers opposite for their highly constructive
and pragmatic approach, especially the noble Baronesses, Lady
Hayman of Ullock and Lady Pinnock, and the noble Lord, . It has been clear that the
Bill enjoys broad support, but their probing has opened fruitful
areas of discussion and given us the chance to say more about the
Government’s work. I am sure noble Lords will join me in thanking
members of the Bill team for their engagement. As I have
mentioned, this is a complex area, and the preparation and
delivery of a Bill such as this rely on the commitment and
experience of officials from across the Department for Levelling
Up, Housing and Communities, the Treasury, the VOA and HMRC. I
also thank parliamentary counsel for their drafting of the Bill
and their wider support to the Bill team. With that, I beg to
move.
(LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister very much for her conclusion to
this Bill. I extend our thanks also to the noble Baroness, Lady
Scott of Bybrook. As she said, the Bill has broad support in your
Lordships’ Chamber. I am grateful for the Minister’s assertion
that we have introduced a pragmatic approach to the content of
the Bill, for I think it is true—we have done just that. I was
particularly pleased to hear the Minister say that the Government
have a commitment to monitor what actually happens. I know that,
on all sides of the House, that will be very gratefully
received.
The Bill has a number of very welcome changes: in particular,
more regular revaluations, which will be a big help. However,
problems remain. Crucially, the level of business rates is too
high. Business rates used to be around half the rental level of a
property; they are now almost equal. This financial burden is
putting a huge pressure on many businesses, not least in the
retail sector. I said on Report and at other stages of the Bill
that small business rate relief should be further extended,
particularly to assist the high street. I also think the
Government should not be increasing the level of business rates
next year by the rate of inflation.
I hope the Government will take on board comments made on all
sides of the House about the need to review the non-domestic
rates valuation process itself for its accuracy, its
communications and its explanations to business rate payers. The
noble Earl, , has been particularly
concerned about the issue of material change of circumstance.
There is a new definition and there is a view that I share with
the noble Earl, , that it is too narrow. I am
reconciled to what the Minister has said, which is that they will
keep it under review.
Thirdly, the Government need to keep a close eye on the level of
payments made by warehouses when those warehouses have a retail
purpose.
In conclusion, I think that the NDR system is broken. This Bill
is a welcome improvement, but it is not a solution. Business
rates cannot just be a means of revenue raising by the Treasury.
I hope that this Government, and any future Government, will
simply bear in mind that we need a major reform of the business
rates system.
of Ullock (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for her opening remarks. I also
thank the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, for all her work on the
Bill; I wish her well from our Benches and we look forward to
seeing her back in her place very shortly.
As others have done, I thank all noble Lords who took part in the
debates on the Bill. It is a short Bill, but it is quite complex
in areas, so it has been incredibly helpful to have real
expertise and insight from noble Lords—such as the noble Lord,
, and the noble Earl, , who have been mentioned—not
only for Government Ministers but for those of us leading on the
Opposition Benches. It was good to be able to understand the
implications of the Bill through the expertise noble Lords
brought to the House. I agree with the noble Lord, , that, having had that, the
Bill is now in a better place than it was when it began in this
House. It is an important Bill, and it is important that we
improve the situation of business rates from how they currently
stand. However, I also agree with the noble Lord, , that there are still a few
outstanding issues; that is why it is important that the
Government keep their commitment to monitoring the outcomes of
the Bill, particularly on the timescales of revaluation. As we
discussed in Committee, some of us would have liked to see
revaluation done more regularly, so it is important that we keep
an eye on that.
As we discussed in the debates on the Levelling-up and
Regeneration Bill, as well as on this Bill, there are a lot of
concerns about our high streets and our small businesses on
them—and business rates are a critical part of how they are
supported. So, as we are also coming to the end of the
Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, I hope that, going forward,
the Government will still consider different ways in which we can
continue to support our high streets and small businesses. Having
said that, we were pleased to support the Bill and we welcome it
moving forward.
Bill passed.
