| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Meale: Many of the fears and worries of the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) will be
addressed by my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Housing, when she addresses amendment No. 1, shortly. She has consulted a sufficient number of bodies outside this place to give a satisfactory answer.
As the hon. Member for West Chelmsford admitted, the amendment does not fundamentally change the effect of the Bill. It goes in a slightly different direction, changing the wording. I therefore hope that the assurances that I have given are sufficient for the hon. Gentleman to withdraw the amendment.
Mr. Burns:
I am very grateful to the Minister. I listened very carefully to what he had to say. Although there is still confusion and some concern, it would not be appropriate at this stage to force a Division on this amendment. When the Bill leaves the House and goes to another place, there will be another opportunity to get to grips with the outstanding issues that are causing concern. For that reason, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Mr. Burstow:
I beg to move amendment No. 1, in page 1, line 16, at end insert
I speak with trepidation bearing in mind recent comments of the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on what the Minister will say.
The amendment will be familiar to hon. Members who served on the Standing Committee, and to the Minister particularly. It addresses an issue that I raised on Second Reading. The Bill, as drafted, precludes valuation officers being able to reflect in their evaluations the effect of natural disasters that result in temporary disrepair. The amendment provides a mechanism by which the practice may continue in respect of damage caused by acts of God, civil commotion, war or terrorism.
In Committee, the Minister graciously said that she would look at the matter further, and that she recognised the anxiety expressed in Committee and outside this place. She said that, if she thought it necessary, she would seek to table amendments. I therefore draw one of two conclusions. Either the Government find my amendment acceptable, or they are able to reassure those, along with myself, who have raised concerns. I look forward to the Minister's response--one way or the other.
Mr. Burns:
The House will be relieved to know that I do not intend to speak for very long.
The Minister for Local Government and Housing (Ms Hilary Armstrong):
As we can see, the Bill has riveted the attention of the whole House and highlighted the serious consideration that Members have given to the important issue of how hereditaments are rated, the practices that are used and the assumptions that are made.
We have had full discussions and consultation with organisations that have expressed concern, as I promised in Committee. Officials met the representatives of the professional bodies on 2 February and the professions restated their concern that the Bill should define reasonable repair and accidental damage that should be excluded from rating assessments. They put forward a number of specific cases in which they feared the Bill might produce unfair consequences and treatment for ratepayers different from those under current legislation.
The professional bodies remain opposed to the Bill in principle because they do not think that it is necessary, but the Government are convinced that it is necessary, and the professions accept that our intention is not what they originally thought it was. They accept also that it would be counterproductive to try to include in the Bill all the different circumstances in which the assumption of a reasonable state of repair would or would not have effect. It would be almost impossible to produce a definitive list. We would have to regularly rewrite that list because it would not correspond with practical examples.
To help allay the concerns of the professions, the Valuation Office agency has drafted a practice note on its approach to valuation following enactment of the Bill. That will deal with the treatment of the marginal cases that the professions are most concerned about and draw on existing case law in support of the approaches that they propose should be taken in respect of each one. The Valuation Office is consulting the professional bodies on the drafting of that practice note. I thought that it might be helpful to explain to hon. Members the negotiations that we have been conducting about the professions' concerns.
Amendment No. 1 reflects hon. Members' concern that any lack of repair arising, for example, from accidental damage, should be reflected in the valuation until that damage is repaired. I understand those concerns. I have repeatedly said that the Government and the Valuation Office have only one intention: to ensure that the assumption as to repair is that which was made in preparing rating valuations before the Lands Tribunal decision in Anston, and nothing more and nothing less.
The current position is that if a property is incapable of beneficial occupation or, in other words, it is unusable, it will be removed from the rating list and no rates will be payable. That is clear. If only part of the property is rendered incapable of beneficial occupation, it has generally been the practice of valuation officers to reduce the rateable value of the premises with effect for the period during which that part of the property cannot be used, to reflect that loss of beneficial use. That applies as much to disrepair occasioned by accidental damage as it does to all other types of disrepair.
I recognise the concerns of the professions and hon. Members that the Bill may affect that position, but I do not believe that it does so. I hope that hon. Members will accept that we have carefully considered the matter, and in discussions the Valuation Office has made it clear to the professions that it will continue to value properties affected in that manner in precisely the same way as before.
I believe, therefore, that the amendment is unnecessary. The Valuation Office has prepared a draft practice note which draws on existing case law and aims to set out how rateable values should be assessed in particular circumstances. I know that professional bodies are co-operating fully in the production of that practice note, to try to ensure that matters of concern are addressed. I believe that that offers a constructive way forward in an area of understandable concern.
That is the right way to proceed. The practice note will be clear to the Valuation Office and to the professions. Accordingly, I hope that the hon. Gentleman will withdraw his amendment. If not, I ask the House to join me in opposing it.
Mr. Burstow:
I listened carefully to the Minister's comments, especially the extended references to the practice note that is being drafted in consultation with the various organisations that have an interest in the matter, such as the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation and the Rating Surveyors Association. I know that other organisations have also been engaged in dialogue with representatives from the Department, to try to allay their concerns about the way in which the Bill, as drafted, will affect their activities and, more to the point, the way in which it will affect many businesses or hereditaments, as they are called for the purpose.
I am sure that those organisations welcome the Government's co-operative approach, but they question the need for the practice note and the Minister's comments. The need to elaborate in such detail begs the question whether the drafting of the Bill has caused the confusion that the practice note is intended to dispel. That is one of the reasons why I did not find the Minister's comments as persuasive as she might have hoped.
The statement by the Minister about acts of God, civil commotion and so on, which are dealt with in my amendment, relates to a serious concern which many of the professional bodies believe should be dealt with in the Bill. Only one professional body has withdrawn its objection and says that the practice note is sufficient. I have seen letters of representation from the other organisations, which hold to the view that the Bill as drafted does not give them confidence that they can give comfort to those who will lose out through the change in the system.
'provided that there shall be excepted from any deemed reinstatement occurring in the course of the exercise of this assumption any want of actual repair to a hereditament arising from any peril customarily insured against, Acts of God, civil commotion, war or terrorism, or arising from the rebuilding or substantial refurbishment thereof'.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |