4 Dec 2013 : Column 1018
Toby Perkins: My hon. Friend spoke a moment ago about the challenges faced by businesses in her constituency. She says that businesses are fighting for their lives. What does she think those businesses will think of a Government who are saying, “We can’t do anything about your business rates because we have to reduce taxes even further for those who are making over £300,000”?
Alison McGovern: I think that those companies will be bemused, at best. I think that they will be angry and frustrated that the Government are not listening to the voices of businesses such as those that I have just quoted. It is not enough to say, “All that matters is the headline rate of corporation tax—we’ll just cut that.” The Chancellor used to talk about flat taxes, but that disappeared as he realised that they would be ineffective. The Government do not really seem to have learned the lesson, and they do not seem to understand what is necessary to rebalance our economy, so that it is stronger at the grass roots and less dictated to by corporations, many of which do a great job for our country but a number of which do not.
If the Government really listened to the voice of small business, they would focus on business rates, as we have, and consider the pro-business step that the Labour party has suggested. One of the most important and enjoyable jobs that I have done in opposition has been to work alongside the small businesses in Wirral South, and I will endeavour to keep doing so.
6.35 pm
Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD): I first draw the House’s attention to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: I am a part-owner of a very small business. I apologise in advance if I miss the winding-up speeches, because the debate is not taking place at quite the expected time and I have another engagement that I cannot get out of.
It is important to take on board what a huge burden business rates and rents are when taken together, particularly for smaller firms. That is a problem in my local shopping district, where, following on from a point made by the hon. Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern), we will have our Christmas parade on Saturday. That event has been happening for decades and is incredibly important to our community. Broadstone chamber of trade organises it entirely, and hundreds and hundreds of people flood into our district shopping precinct, which is obviously good for trade. I am pleased that our district shopping centre qualified for £10,000 of Mary Portas funding, which was helpful. The business sector is also working within the neighbourhood forum, which is in the process of setting up its neighbourhood plan.
It is important to realise that, although there is a difficult economic climate, the Government have introduced many positive measures. The cutting of corporation tax, which has been mentioned, has been significant. Under the previous Government’s plans, there was a potential increase. The increase in small business rate relief has tripled its value, which is highly significant. Like other Members who have spoken, I will listen carefully to what the Chancellor of the Exchequer has to say about that tomorrow.
My hon. Friend the Member for Burnley (Gordon Birtwistle) campaigned to increase capital allowances, and the Chancellor thanked him personally in the 2012
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1019
autumn statement as he increased them tenfold. That helped small firms by offering them 100% tax relief on capital spending up to £250,000 for two years. The £2,000 employment allowance has been mentioned, and it has been incredibly important in helping small businesses take on more employees—a plus-plus all round.
There have been an enormous number of initiatives to try to counteract the failure of the banking system, which we inherited, and to try to get finance to small and medium-sized firms. The business bank is one of many. We are doubling the number of small and medium-sized enterprises exporting with help from UK Trade & Investment. I recently visited a local firm that has doubled its turnover in the past three years and has 130 employees, and it commented in particular on the support that it had received from UKTI. We have the regional growth fund, which is really important. Local enterprise partnerships are beginning to come together and work very well in some areas, and there are local enterprise zones, which have been mentioned in the debate. The Government have taken a lot of positive measures, which we should not overlook.
An interesting remark was made to me yesterday by the Wessex Federation of Small Businesses. It commented that many rents are inclusive of rates—a point that I had not thought about before—and that starter units within a larger complex do not benefit from business rate relief. Perhaps that issue could be looked at.
I endorse the comments made by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis), who said that the Localism Act 2011 was important and brought in local choices and flexibility. If we are to have more discretionary business rate relief, it is the local area that knows best where to make those decisions. That is important for the potential of our high streets and district shopping centres.
I appreciate the move towards business rate retention by local authorities—although perhaps not the global sums of money involved—and I think that that is the right move to incentivise local authorities to attract business to the area. In the longer run, I would like a higher proportion of business rates to be retained within the local authority area, as that is the way we should go as a truly localist Government.
I will end with a comment from the Federation of Small Businesses, which said that the second wave of city deals—including for Bournemouth and Poole—will not have the same business rate retention as the first wave. I feel that would be a rather retrospective step, and I hope it can be looked at again.
6.41 pm
Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South East) (Lab): Small businesses are the driving force behind future jobs and growth, and they now account for more than half the economy and most of the new jobs. In fact, in the next 15 years or so, small businesses will create more jobs that people are not even aware of yet. A recent survey by the Forum of Private Business found that action on business rates is the No. 1 demand from small firms. Many hard-working small businesses are relocating or closing down every week, and the fact that there are more than 40,000 empty shops on our streets is proof of that.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1020
In my constituency, Bolton’s 9,000 businesses are being crippled by the increasing burden of business rates, and business rate liabilities will add £3.2 million to Bolton business costs from next April. The World of Wicker—a reputable business in my constituency—is now having to move out of its town centre location because
“business rates are too high”.
The average bill has now reached £14,000, compared with council tax of around £1,400. Obviously, some business premises tend to be larger than homes and they tend to be in town centres, but the bill should not be 10 times the size. At the moment, business rates bring in some £25 billion a year, which is just too high. Last year, the Government increased business rates by the biggest rise in 20 years, and during this Parliament, it is projected that another £6.5 billion will be added to the business rates bill.
Businesses all over the country are shouting about the damage that business rates are causing. John Allan, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said that he
“welcomes the focus by the Labour leadership on this critical issue for small businesses. It affects thousands of our members across the UK and is one which we’ve been lobbying on for some time.”
This is not something the Labour party has dreamt up because it had nothing else to do; it is a real issue that small businesses are asking and campaigning for.
The Labour party has proposed to help small businesses and our high streets by pledging to cut business rates in 2015 and to freeze them in 2016. That will mean an average saving of nearly £450 for about 1.5 million properties. That measure has been costed, and it will happen instead of the Government’s planned corporation tax cut for multinationals in 2015. That tax cut benefits only about 2% of British businesses, yet 98% of those businesses will have an increase in business rates.
I welcome today’s announcement by the Government that there will be some changes. Government Members will have to accept, however, that the Opposition have been constantly arguing for reducing, freezing or stopping business rates. Now, eventually, something is being done, but it is not enough.
Under Labour’s plan, 1.5 million start-ups, workshops and shops would benefit from a cut and then a freeze in business rates. I do not understand why Government Members find asking for business rates to be frozen or reduced so difficult to comprehend. They are happy to cut corporation tax for companies earning over £300,000, yet they are also happy to show no concern for small businesses, which are the backbone of our communities and which need our support, and moreover they think that we are somehow in the wrong for raising their concerns. I ask the Minister to realise that small businesses need as much help and assistance as we can give them.
6.46 pm
Nick de Bois (Enfield North) (Con):
Let me first make it clear that I believe that the business rates system we have essentially inherited over the years is fast becoming disproportionate for local shops and, frankly, it is an unfair tax. We inherited an appalling deficit, so we have to recognise that there is no easy fix. The Chancellor
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1021
will inevitably want his £27 billion raised from business rates. However, the fact is that it is a property tax on business that is rightly perceived to be disproportionate for many, delivering no value, and unfair. Also, businesses cannot negotiate it, unlike just about everything else which is in their control. Shockingly, our business rates are a more significant tax on business property than comparable taxes in other European countries. Indeed, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that business rates receipts will exceed council tax and fuel duties receipts in financial years 2014 and 2015.
There is a strong consensus—even in this House, I suspect—that the system is no longer fit for purpose, but we are in extremely difficult times, so there is no pretending there is an easy fix. I would like to see reforms that would have economic benefits, including a boost to jobs, which I believe will ultimately drive revenues through having more profitable businesses. There are serious concerns about the level of the tax on business, and there is a serious case for a review of the entire structure. I have lobbied publicly and privately for a commitment to that review and I think the case is overwhelming. The present situation means that businesses are at the mercy of an uprating system that is flawed and, to cut through the politics, the reality is that this has been going on for a long time. This is not a problem created by the Government parties.
Incidentally, I notice that although this is an Opposition day debate, there have been consistently more Conservative Members in the Chamber discussing this issue. I think it is worth putting that on the record. [Interruption.]. I pay tribute to all who have spoken in the debate, however, because all the contributions have been useful. [Interruption.] I am sorry Opposition Members do not like what I said, but it is a fact, so they will just have to deal with it.
According to the British Chambers of Commerce, an uprating of 3.2% would drive something like another £900 million in revenue. Interestingly, Opposition Members have been quoting the British Retail Consortium in support of their arguments, but they have not mentioned that the BRC said today that if speculation of a limit to a 2% rise is true, it would welcome that, as would its members, and that it sees see that as a clear indication of a direction of travel for business rates. As we on the Government Benches know, the key for businesses is as much the direction of travel of a tax—and having a sense of certainty as to where it is going—as having immediate relief. A real-terms cut is what will matter.
Having said that, we can do more, and we can do more now. I talked about section 69 of the Localism Act 2011 in an intervention, but the idea of scrutinising the powers of local authorities to make reductions did not seem to be met with universal approval by Opposition Members. I cannot understand why Opposition Members do not believe that local authorities should be challenging their expenditure and looking to apply discretionary relief by any means, supporting any sector of their local economy that they wish to support at a level that will attract 50% support from the Government. It is ludicrous that they do not embrace that and urge their councils to do it. I would welcome an intervention from anyone on that.
Simon Kirby:
Is my hon. Friend surprised as I am that Brighton and Hove council spends £2.9 million on
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1022
communication across the council, which could be used to help small businesses across the city, create employment and generate the economy?
Nick de Bois: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention and for drawing his local council to our attention. My council has spent £100,000 on conferences and, I understand, £106,000 on magazines, no doubt to promote a good message. That £200,000 in Enfield could have been subsidised by another 50% from the Government. If £100 million in rates and business rates is collected in our borough, and £3 million of discounts applied to the retail sector, or specific areas within the retail sector, that can translate into a significant cut to businesses. The council might not use those means, because it realises that there is a business audience scrutinising councils’ spending decisions and wondering why they do not manage the money they gather from taxpayers as if it was their own. That is what drives a business. Uncollected council tax seems to run year on year with no reduction. Enfield council is averaging nearly £1.5 million each year. Why is no effort made to improve that and divert those funds to support local businesses? The answer is that councils do not treat the money like it is their own.
Simon Danczuk: I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point about local authorities subsidising business rates for certain sectors, but does he not accept that that can be done inappropriately? In Rochdale, one café has been given 100% business rate relief, causing competition problems for other cafés in the local area.
Nick de Bois: I accept that there is the potential for spurring artificial competition. That should not be the case. Section 69 of the Localism Act is clever, because it covers non-competitive areas. It could cover shopping parades as opposed to other centres, or retail alone—it does not have to back business to business. I hope that councils judge it well.
Some 17% of authorities have chosen to apply discretionary relief and have taken advantage of £8 million of Government subsidy. That is not a high take-up rate. There is part of me that wonders about the motivation for councils not doing so: they simply do not want to do so, which I do not understand; they are unaware of it; or there has not been sufficient knowledge and lobbying in constituencies to drive it. I can think of reasons why a council might not want take such action: it might not want to hold itself up to scrutiny or make a decision that it feels carries less political weight than supporting its businesses. However, it is key that MPs take the campaign to the streets to make councils, of whatever colour or persuasion, implement a plan that can deliver savings to our businesses. That cannot be done alone.
Business rates, important as they are, will not be the only measure to help high streets, in particular, to succeed. We need a holistic approach that involves parking and encouraging a culture where people support their local shops and spend a bit of money locally where previously they might have spent it somewhere else. The one non-negotiable, however, and probably one of the most repulsive taxes on business at the moment is the fixed high charge of business rates, and local councils could do something about that now.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1023
6.55 pm
Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab): I was going to welcome the remarks of the hon. Member for Enfield North (Nick de Bois).
Bill Esterson: I do welcome his opening remarks. He was absolutely right to say that business rates are a tax that is past its sell-by date. The need for reform has been well stated by him and many business leaders in the advice we have all received for this debate and over a much longer period. My hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins) mentioned 1973 and the Heath Government. By way of context, it is instructive to consider the changes in business in the 40 years since.
When the hon. Member for Enfield North moved on to other matters, however—[Interruption.] I might detain him some time, I think. He talked about how councils should be supporting their businesses, and at the end he made some good suggestions about parking—I will give some examples of that from my own authority in a moment—but I disagreed with his point about 50% support for councils’ use of discretionary relief. I do not know the details of Enfield council, but the reality of the financial settlement that Sefton and other authorities in the metropolitan boroughs have received means that applying that 50% rule would be almost impossible, given the scale of the cuts to those authorities. In Sefton’s case, those cuts are more than 40%, and that is not untypical of the northern metropolitan boroughs.
Nick de Bois: I am not advocating cuts in social services or education. I am saying that there are areas of expenditure in a council’s budget that are relatively small and which, with 50% support, could make a massive difference to local retail shops.
Bill Esterson: I agree that small amounts of money can make a big difference to business—I will come on to that—but demand for social care for older and disabled people in places such as Sefton and the legal requirement to fund children’s services make it impossible to provide even relatively small sums of money, certainly on an ongoing basis.
Sefton has put aside a £1 million pot for the current financial year to provide support and has used it for some very good projects, including Christmas lights across the borough, in its various town and village centres, which has contributed. It also includes, I believe, £50,000 to accommodate free parking on Thursdays and Saturdays in the run-up to Christmas. That is part of small business Saturday, which my hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Mr Umunna) introduced to this country and which was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield. Those sorts of initiatives, using small amounts of money, certainly work very well, but it is problematic to try to extend it across a borough with an initiative such as discretionary relief, when cuts of 40%-plus have been made.
In addition to the successes in Sefton on parking and the Christmas lights, we have a number of town teams, as I know do other Members, and they have supported some fantastic local businesses in the towns of Formby, Crosby and Maghull in my constituency alone. On Monday, I was pleased to go along to the opening of five small units in a disused shop in the centre of
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1024
Maghull that the Labour borough council and Labour members of the town council had been instrumental in setting up. We have five traders, and I understand that trade is already brisk and that the initiative has been successful just in those first few days. That is a good use of the small amounts of money that the hon. Member for Enfield North mentioned, and it is quite right that we should talk about that.
I was surprised by the comments made by some Government Members about retailers. I think one or two of them implied that retailers were not important to the economy or the recovery, but they could not have been further from the truth. Retailers are at the heart of our communities. They and other businesses, particularly small businesses, suffer from high levels of business rates. When I travel round my constituency and meet small businesses, they raise the issue of business rates more than any other. Small businesses want to see action. The hon. Member for Enfield North mentioned the 2% freeze and the fact that the BRC and other business organisations have called for it. He is right about that, but they see it only as a first step—as something that is available because they feel that this Government will do it.
Those organisations also want to see what we are offering: a full business rate cut. We are talking about only a few hundred pounds with a 2% cap, whereas my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield is talking about a £450 cut. That is quite a significant difference, when costs are so tight and when we have retailers, as we all do, who are struggling to make ends meet and take enough money out of their businesses to survive.
Toby Perkins: Was my hon. Friend as appalled as I was to hear Government Members say, “Well, you know, £410 a year is only a pound or so a day to customers. It’s small beer”? If that is what Government Members think about business rates, does it not show how out of touch they are?
Bill Esterson: That is absolutely right. We have seen a massive growth in the number of small businesses. We now have 4.9 million businesses in this country; 40 years ago the figure was only 1 million. Of those 4.9 million, only 200,000 employ 10 or more people, while the vast majority employ a small number of people or are sole traders. For those businesses, a few hundred pounds makes all the difference and is a huge contribution. We were talking earlier about the difference that a small amount of money invested by a local authority makes, and the same is true when the money goes directly into the pockets of small business owners.
Damian Collins: Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the cut to national insurance contributions, which is introduced in April and is worth £2,000, is worth considerably more than this policy from the Labour party? What we are asking for in this debate is a bit of context. Labour Members—the hon. Gentleman is in danger of falling into this trap—are presenting a relatively small initiative as some panacea to help small businesses, when it will do nothing of the sort and is small when compared with other measures that the Government have put in place.
Bill Esterson:
No, I do not think our policy is a panacea; I think it is an important initiative that would give support directly. Members were talking earlier
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1025
about how we would pay for the measure by not introducing the 1% cut in corporation tax and how that money would feed through into small businesses, and this point is similar, because what small businesses need is direct help. Expecting that support to feed through indirectly through the economy means it will take much longer to help. The help is needed now; that is why our proposal is so important. I hope that hon. Members will support my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield and his motion tonight.
Nick de Bois: On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. In the excitement of being called to speak so early, I forgot to notify the House that my wife runs a business, which obviously pays business rates, that was formerly my company. I want to put that on the record and I am grateful to you for allowing me to do so.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo): I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, as I am sure the House is too. Transparency is always a good idea in the House and that will be shown in the record, so I thank him for his point of order.
7.4 pm
Mrs Anne Main (St Albans) (Con): I am pleased to be able to speak in the debate. There are many small businesses in St Albans, and I think that there is consensus in the House that business rates impose an onerous task on them in particular. As was pointed out by my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield North (Nick de Bois), they are a tax on properties, and they are indeed onerous. However, there are many other strands to the stresses and strains suffered by business, and many of my local businesses have welcomed the Government’s initiatives to cut red tape, keep fuel duty down and introduce economic stability.
It is no secret that under the last Government many people running small businesses—including a number who spoke to me—were unable to renew their loans or the terms with which they were being presented, because of the fragility of the banking sector and the economic crisis into which the country was sinking. Because of the onerous conditions that were being placed on their loans, they were being forced to lose members of staff, not to expand, or even to go under.
We must view the position in the round. Many small businesses were approaching a tipping point under the last Government because of the crises that they were being pushed into. We must deal with that now, although nothing can be fixed overnight. When the Secretary of State for Education came to St Albans, my local chamber of commerce welcomed, in particular, the fact that the Government were providing the apprenticeships and education that most small businesses had been crying out for.
Seductive though Labour’s proposals may be, I do not understand how robbing Peter to pay Paul can possibly be a good idea. I also notice the sheer lack of figures. We have been discussing which businesses would be caught or not caught, supported or not supported, by Labour’s proposals, but I can inform the House that the average rateable value of commercial property in St Albans city centre is £48,811.51, and the average in St Albans as a whole is £40,216. The city contains very few large premises; the valuations are high because we have such high property values.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1026
Let me issue a plea to the Minister. St Albans is not inner London, and many small businesses there do not benefit from the small business rate relief for high-value areas. That problem was drawn to my attention a few weeks ago, long before the debate was scheduled, by Luisa and Oliver Zissman, who run Dixie’s Cupcakery in St Albans. I think we all agree that small businesses feel that they are being taxed and are receiving very little value in return for the business rates that they pay. That is exactly what Luisa Zissman said, but she also said that if other measures were introduced, business rates would not be so onerous. Some businesses, such as Dixie’s Cupcakery, produce a lot of packaging. Perhaps their recycled rubbish could be included in council recycling targets, because at present that is just a direct cost to their business.
I welcome the Government’s focus on markets. St Albans is the proud owner of one of the longest street markets in the country—some say in Europe—which is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Since 2010, with the Government’s encouragement, the concil has frozen council tax each year. I pay tribute to the leader of the Conservative-led council for cutting down on, for instance, the free sandwiches and coffee machines that used to be given to councillors. I urge the council to go one step further and get rid of the council election “thirds” that many of the councillors seem to like, thus saving £90,000 per election. As my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield North said, if councils made such savings they might have a bit more money to put towards businesses. However, I pay tribute to my council for cutting waste and keeping the services in St Albans. If it is possible for some recycling collections for small businesses to contribute to local targets so that they can save on overheads and other costs, so much the better. Our Christmas market—the first that we have had in St Albans—adds vibrancy to the city centre. All those things help other small businesses to survive.
I think that this Monday was supposed to be “internet frenzy spending day”. The fact is, however, that if we do not use our small businesses but go online and use the big companies, and if we Google Amazon to find out where we can get our books most cheaply instead of going to our local stores in our town and city centres, we are contributing to the demise of local businesses and the problems that are besetting them.
I am delighted that this Government are tackling some of the excesses of the previous Government, and that they are pragmatic enough to realise that they cannot do it all once. I welcome the moves that they have taken. I am sure people will say that this is just the first step; well, so be it. There will be many more steps to come. I hope that the Chancellor will bear in mind when he makes his announcement tomorrow that some businesses are not in London but in expensive areas outside the capital, and that they too need some sort of transitional help to ensure that their businesses can be successful.
7.10 pm
Simon Danczuk (Rochdale) (Lab): It is a delight to follow the hon. Member for St Albans (Mrs Main). Let me start by declaring an interest: I have recently initiated a business rates appeal in regard to Danczuk’s Deli, which opens this Saturday in Rochdale. I thought it right and proper that I should put that fact—it is not an advertisement—on record.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1027
I have been banging on about business rates for some time now. I was doing it even when it was unfashionable. It is funny how things change. A Labour leader has been cheered to the rafters at the Labour party conference, not for proposing to nationalise the FTSE 100 companies or anything like that, but for proposing to freeze and cut business rates. Labour is the friend of small business, the Conservatives are perceived as the friends of big business, and the Liberals do not have any friends at all.
Labour is the friend of small business, but it does not stop there. Everyone is concerned about business rates, including the Confederation of British Industry, the Federation of Small Businesses, the British Independent Retailers Association, the British Retail Consortium, the British Chambers of Commerce and the Forum of Private Business—the list goes on and on. In fact, I want to ask the Minister to name a significant business person who thinks that business rates are fit for purpose. I invite him to intervene on me if he can do so. Let us be clear: there is dismay and concern about the business rates regime, not only in the business community but on the Minister’s Back Benches. I have done a little bit of research, and found out that the following Conservative MPs have all raised concerns about business rates: the hon. Members for Witham (Priti Patel), for South Suffolk (Mr Yeo), for Altrincham and Sale West (Mr Brady), for Watford (Richard Harrington), for Nuneaton (Mr Jones), for Brentford and Isleworth (Mary Macleod), for Selby and Ainsty (Nigel Adams), for Enfield North (Nick de Bois), for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris), for Worcester (Mr Walker), for Rossendale and Darwen (Jake Berry), for North Swindon (Justin Tomlinson) and for Crawley (Henry Smith). We have heard from more tonight.
Even this Government’s Business Secretary raised concerns at a conference in March, saying that the business rates regime was “old fashioned”, and that there were
“all kinds of hidden distortions”.
“Is the valuation base the right one? That is the fundamental question we should be asking.”
Never mind asking the Minister to name a significant business person who supports the current business rates regime; can he name anyone in his own party or in the Government who does so? The silence is deafening, because the reality is that nobody supports the present arrangements.
There was a simple solution that was used to address the inequalities in business rates and to retain some fairness in the system: it was the regular business rates revaluation. But what did the Government do? They postponed the revaluation, which would have re-aligned business rates with property values. People, particularly those in smaller businesses, are asking why the Government would want to postpone fairness. What is the logic behind retaining unfairness? That question needs to be answered.
On 16 October, in the House, the Minister for high streets—the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis)—peddled the greatest line of all. He said:
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1028
“The biggest beneficiaries from a 2015 revaluation would not have been small shops, including in the north of England, but prime office space in London.”—[Official Report, 16 October 2013; Vol. 568, c. 817.]
That is simply untrue. In my constituency, people are paying more in business rates because the revaluation is not taking place. That has been proved. Cushman & Wakefield, a leading global property consultant, provides a quarterly central London index covering central London office space. It shows beyond doubt that the Valuation Office Agency had overestimated the effect on London offices of a 2015 revaluation and that, in fact, they would have paid more as a consequence of that revaluation. So I challenge what the Minister has said.
The British Property Federation’s lease events report, published last month, clearly states that
“retails outside of London and the South East saw rental income fall for all leases upon renewal or re-letting.”
Bill Esterson: One point that my hon. Friend is making is about the effect on retail. Is it not the case that tens of thousands of shops could close unless this issue is addressed, with the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs? The jobs of young people would be particularly affected, because many young people start their careers in retail.
Simon Danczuk: My hon. Friend is absolutely right and he makes an important point; retail is the first rung on the ladder into employment for young people.
Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con): This relates to fairness. I have frequented Rochdale on many occasions—in fact, I used to run a business on the high street there. One key thing about Rochdale is that it has a lot of empty shops. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the biggest imposition on retail on the high street was the imposition by the previous Government of rates on empty properties?
Simon Danczuk: I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman at all. My area has the national average for the number of empty shops, and no more. Those rates encourage and enable landlords to fill the empty shops, because there is a need for them to have somebody paying business rates.
The revaluation policy has saved London businesses vast sums in business rates. Hackett on Regent street, a high-end fashion retailer, has saved nearly half a million pounds on business rates. Smythson on Bond street, where the Prime Minister’s wife is an adviser, has saved in excess of £850,000 on business rates because of the lack of a revaluation. Even the Government’s own adviser, Mary Portas, has said that this is “bloody mad”. Rochdale is subsidising Regent street, and it is just not fair. The Minister challenged my figures earlier. I have them here, and he has not seen them before because they were generated only today. Greater Manchester local authorities—all 10 combined—are paying an extra £61 million in business rates because the Minister decided to pull the revaluation.
The other significant point I wish to make is that the Government should cut business rates and then freeze them. They have the money to do that, because by stopping the revaluation, they have saved £1 billion by not implementing the transitional scheme that would have had to be in place under the revaluation. The
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1029
Minister should explain something to us: if £300 million is being used by the Chancellor to make a cut to 2%, what is the other £700 million being used for?
Simon Danczuk: I will let the Minister deal with that when he winds up. I wish to make a few final points. We have the highest property taxes in the developed world and we need radically to reform business rates. The Minister should listen to his own Back Benchers. He should take heed of what Labour has been proposing. He should take heed of The Daily Telegraphand its excellent Fix The Rates campaign. We need a radical cut to business rates and we then need to see them frozen. I am glad that if this Government will not act on business rates, a Labour Government certainly will do.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo): Order. I am cutting the time limit to five minutes, from now, for each Back-Bench contribution. The wind-ups for this debate will start at 7.46 pm. I hope that we will be able to fit everybody in, but we may not.
7.19 pm
Mr Brian Binley (Northampton South) (Con): Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, especially for telling me that my time has been cut short.
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Rochdale (Simon Danczuk), who made some telling points. I lost him somewhere along the line, but in the main he made constructive points. Sometimes it befits the elderly to give a history lesson to those who follow, and it is often a salutary exercise. We would not be where we are today if there were not a load of history behind all the stuff that we are now facing. That seems to have been forgotten by some of the younger Members on the Opposition Benches, so I will help them. I am going to elucidate and explain why we are where we are today. We had a structural deficit in the previous Government from 2002 onwards—[Interruption.] They don’t like it up ‘em. We saw the destruction of the most effective private pension scheme in Europe, and the sale of 25% of our gold reserves at the most ludicrously laughable low price. We arrived at a £160 billion—[Interruption.] The trouble is they do not like it. We arrived at a £160 billion deficit by borrowing £1 in every £4 we spent. No wonder we are in a spot of trouble. No wonder the Government are struggling to find their way to those uplands of economic well-being, and by golly they are doing it. I want to pay tribute to the Government for the way in which they have created 1,400,000 jobs, 400,000 new businesses and the fastest growing economy in the western world. Opposition Members can put their heads in their hands, but those are the facts and they need to face up to them.
Now let me talk about business rates. Sadly, the Government have not been able to do as much as they wanted to do because we were left with an appalling legacy. It would befit the Opposition to recognise that fact just a little bit more. In truth there is a problem with business rates; they do need reforming, but no political party and no Government in this country have ever wanted to face a revaluation, and that goes for that lot over there as well as our lot, and they need to remember that.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1030
Business rates are causing hardship for businesses, and preventing others from growing. They bring in £25 billion to the Exchequer. The Federation of Small Businesses claims that 30% of small and medium-sized enterprises are paying more in business rates than they are in rents, so there is clearly a difficult problem. We need to recognise that together and the history that led up to it. If we all did that, perhaps the people out there would think that we were a little more adult.
We could see an increase in business rates of some £242 million, unless the Chancellor announces a decision tomorrow. That could mean 6,000 shops and 8,000 jobs disappearing. It is a real problem, particularly when we consider that 40,000 high street shops remain empty across the country. Local authorities need more to help them revitalise and grow the sector. I have heard some very credible schemes from Opposition Members, and I welcome them. In my constituency, we have a scheme called Northampton Alive in which 21 major projects are linked to creating 2,016 jobs for those not in education, employment or training by 2016, and to a people’s forum, so they can take ownership of how the town is changing—a new station, a new bus interchange and a new road to the west. Yes, we have got down to business in Northampton, and we have got down to ensuring that our businesses receive rate relief. We have the highest figure—£1.5 million—in the country, and I applaud Northampton council for doing that.
We all need to recognise that something needs to be done about business rates. I hope that my party does it very quickly, because the truth is that the Opposition did not do anything when they had the opportunity, and they should remember that fact.
7.24 pm
Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op): It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Northampton South (Mr Binley). Like him, I have started and owned a number of small businesses. I know that a number of Government Members have not, and some could barely run a tap based on what they have been saying.
I am a great supporter of small businesses in Swansea—people like Joe’s Ice Cream and Tomos Watkin’s. I have had them up here and I will be visiting them later this week. We should remember when we have these history lessons that the last time we saw mass bankruptcies was under the Tories, and that is happening again. Why? We have heard about growth—the fastest growth in Europe, I think they said—but when we analyse that growth, we can see that it is a combination of mortgage lending and consumer debt lending, which is now at its 2008 level. Bank lending for investment is down 32% and the share of small businesses in business lending is down from 42% to 27%. That is appalling for small business. Royal Bank of Scotland is the Government-owned bank, in essence, and its share of small business lending has fallen from 40% to 33%. It has double dealt and all the rest of it.
This is a big issue. I made some of these points last week and Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, has switched the focus of the direction of business away from mortgages. Productivity is still 5% in Britain whereas it is up 8% in the USA. That is why people are poor and cannot afford to deal with the cost of living crisis, which is why Labour is talking about energy and business rates. Labour is in touch with the reality for small businesses.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1031
There is a clear choice. Do we want a corporation tax cut, when we have the most competitive rates in the world already and when companies need profit to pay that tax? Or do we cut costs, so that the businesses that are not making any profit can survive? My choice is small business. People talk about Peter and Paul and we are talking about small versus big, rich versus poor. We know what side the Tories are on with the millionaires’ tax cut and the rest of it.
Look at procurement. In Wales, 65% of procurement goes to small business, which generates local jobs and corporation tax paid to the Exchequer. In England, 6% goes to small business so the rest goes to big business—international businesses that do not pay corporation tax and employ people in Germany or wherever else. There is no evaluation of the overall economic impact on small business and what the country is doing.
We have talked about infrastructure again today and 80% of funding goes to London and the south-east. How much of that goes to small business? Very little. What about HS2? We are giving it away to the Chinese. What are the Government doing? They are hopeless at protecting our interests. There needs to be a big conversation among Government, big and small business and trade unions.
I am glad that there will be a cross-party debate next week about Ford, which is not funding pensioners—people who worked all their lives for Ford and were sent away because they were with Visteon. I am having my own dialogue with Amazon, a local company that I think is not paying fair tax. “Panorama” also showed that there is not fair treatment in Amazon and there is some suggestion that it might be in cahoots with the DVLA and Royal Mail on local wage setting. I will be asking the Office of Fair Trading to look into that.
I have worked for multinational companies in charge of global brands and we need fair treatment, fair tax and fair play. Incidentally, I did not vote for the EU-Colombia free trade agreement because of what is happening in Colombia to trade unionists and the like. It is important that we support initiatives such as Labour’s proposal on council tax and what we are doing in Wales. The bottom line is that on lending, procurement, infrastructure, business rates and energy costs, Labour means business—a strong business community moving forward to a future that cares, a future that works and a society that is united and strong rather than divided and weak.
I shall give up the rest of my time for future speakers, but let me just say that we must focus on small business and stop letting people such as Vodafone get off with £50 billion of income from their latest share deal while paying no corporation tax. Let’s get real, let’s get fair and let’s make Britain strong again.
7.28 pm
Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot) (Con):
The Government are focused on small businesses and have a tremendous record. In regulation, we have the red tape challenge, with 6,000 regulations scrutinised and 3,000 to be given a severe hair cut. On tax, we have cut corporation tax and the employer allowance is
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1032
extraordinarily good news, well loved and well liked. On access to finance, funding for lending has been one of the best success stories, but today we are talking about business rates.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South (Mr Binley) identified, business rates have been with us for a long time. They emanate from the Poor Laws in the 1500s and the Rating and Valuation Act 1925 was the origin of the modern tax, most recently affected by the Local Government Finance Act 1988. It started out very simple: rateable value times multiplier. It is absolutely right to say that over time it has become incredibly complicated. The issue is not only about affordability, although I certainly hope that the Chancellor can do something about that in his autumn statement, but about fairness and lack of transparency. Why is it unfair? It is unfair because rateable value is not calculated in a simple way. It can depend on whether a business is in town or out of town. It can depend on its gross internal area or net internal area, or whether it has a car park. For a large out-of-town store, for example, a car park is not included. The situation is different for pubs, because in the 1800s they were deemed to have a monopoly, so their rates were based not on rateable value or rent, but on turnover. These days, they do not have a monopoly, so that certainly needs to be addressed.
The reliefs are equally confusing. The small business rate relief is fantastic, and it is to the Government’s credit that they have doubled it in their time in office. Hopefully they will consider an extension. Charities still have 80% relief and it really does not matter what rateable value they have. There are special reliefs for some obscure businesses in rural areas. For example, pubs and petrol stations in rural areas get 50% relief, but up to a rateable value of £12,500. There are many other areas that are completely inconsistent.
We need transparency, because businesses do not understand how their rates have been calculated and cannot see what benefit they get. Redress is limited, because appeals can take months and, unfortunately, local authority discretion, which we welcomed in the Localism Act 2011, is not being used, as has been mentioned. With revaluations every five years, there can be a long time to wait.
However, there are solutions. The Government have a fantastic record, but there is more to do. In the short term, a small cap of perhaps 2%—that figure has been mentioned in the media—would be brilliant. I would welcome any extension of the small business rate relief, and I certainly agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Mr Ruffley) that it should be made permanent.
In the medium term, we need to review the statutory reliefs and consider whether we could revalue every other year—from my conversations with the valuation office, I think that would be possible—which would ease the burden of appeals. If we are serious about allowing businesses to see that they get some value, because half of the money from business rates goes back into the local community, why do we not state on the back of the bills exactly what the council has done for businesses? We might also look at reviewing the use of the multiplier, which currently is used only to distinguish between the different countries that make up the United Kingdom, but it could be used to better target reliefs.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1033
In the long term, I agree with those Members who have said that the current system is simply not fit for purpose. We need a review. We need to look at it in the context of the importance of retail, the high street and small businesses in this country. Let us review the methodology and make it simpler and fairer. Let us look at how we calculate rates for each individual business payer so that they can understand it. Let us look at how we can encourage local authorities to do more to recognise the needs of small businesses and to help them. Let us make the process easier so that the system works.
Business rates remain one of the outstanding issues that need to be addressed. That in no way detracts from the Government’s fantastic record on what they have done for small businesses, but this needs to be addressed.
7.33 pm
Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab): It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris) and to contribute to the debate on behalf of businesses in my constituency. We are obviously focusing on small businesses this evening, and this is a pertinent debate for them, but it is also pertinent for the mighty Trafford centre in my constituency. It is perhaps not surprising that the debate covers the whole range of businesses in my constituency, when we consider that the average increase in business rates in Trafford has been considerably higher than the English average.
I want to pick up, in particular, on the Minister’s welcome comment about the Government’s intention to review the Valuation Office Agency’s performance in the system of appeals, because that is an area of great concern to businesses in my constituency. The long delays before they can see appeals resolved are putting some businesses under huge cash-flow pressure and others at risk of insolvency. Although the Minister claimed that the Valuation Office Agency’s performance has improved in recent months, it is not good enough for us to be in any way complacent. At this point, in relation to the 2010 list, performance in clearing appeals is considerably worse than it was at the same point in relation to the 2005 list, so clearly there is real pressure building up in the system and we need to unblock that and identify the drivers of those pressures. It is worrying that the data that enable us to judge the VOA’s performance are apparently being suppressed. We were receiving quarterly performance data, but now we are to receive it only six-monthly, apparently on the basis that that will enhance the service to users. It is difficult to see how less frequent reporting can do that. I hope that the review will have a comprehensive and honest look at the difficulties in the system.
Let me highlight a few issues that I hope Ministers will be able to pick up when they embark on the review. First, the VOA repeatedly expresses concerns about the actions of agents in relation to the handling of appeals, and sometimes suggests that they are one of the drivers of delay. In fact, many of the processes that businesses have to go through are extremely complex, and so any opportunities to simplify the appeals process would be very welcome. I think that agents themselves would say that.
Secondly, the VOA often argues that in many cases submitted to appeal, there is no change in the assessment at the end of the appeal process. Let us remember,
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1034
however, that those cases include quite a number that never complete the process because there is a protective appeal or because the business becomes insolvent before the appeal can be resolved, which is obviously not good and may be because of delays in handling it or because the case has been re-appealed. It will be important to understand what is driving these no-change decisions and to be clear that we are focusing on the real issues and not just taking a broad-brush approach.
The whole ethos of what the agency is seeking to achieve needs to be part of the scrutiny that I hope the Government will undertake. Its role is not simply to protect the list, as sometimes seems to be the case, but to ensure true and fair business rate assessments. It is very important that that purpose is put absolutely at the heart of the review.
I hope that the Minister will look at some of the recent changes to statements of practice and guidance, which seem to have led to an unwillingness on the part of the agency to enter into constructive and meaningful negotiations in order to arrive at the right level of business rates for a particular business. There are serious concerns about the agency’s ethos and approach, and I hope the review will be able to uncover that.
Of course, it will be important that the agency has the resources to carry out appeals expeditiously, efficiently and accurately. I hope that that, too, is something that Ministers will take on board.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle): I call Robin Walker. The next two speakers have four minutes each.
7.37 pm
Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con): I congratulate the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) on her speech. She drew attention to some important issues about the Valuation Office Agency that I have spoken about before and do not intend to touch on now, so I am grateful that she covered them. Like my hon. Friends the Members for Enfield North (Nick de Bois), for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris) and for Northampton South (Mr Binley), I believe that business rates need fundamental reform, and I hope we can start that process tomorrow.
The Labour party’s motion does not just propose to rob Peter to pay Paul; it goes directly against its record in government, when it charged higher rates of tax on smaller businesses than on large ones and resisted the many attempts of my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Peter Luff), through his chairmanship of the cross-party Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and his private Member’s Bill, to extend small business rate relief to many more small businesses. One of the best things that could be done to help small businesses was done when my hon. Friend’s suggestion of making the small business rate relief automatic for thousands of businesses was accepted, not by Labour but by this coalition Government.
Another was the doubling of the threshold for small business rate relief, but I regret that that was done only on a temporary basis with a deadline to expire in 2014. I hope that that can be addressed in tomorrow’s statement. I have had representations to that effect from the excellent Wise Owl Toys in Worcester and from Greenway Landscape Architects, who say that if they were asked to pay
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1035
business rates on their office they would have to close it down and work from home instead. Both businesses point out that there would be no net gain to the Treasury or to local government from allowing the relief to expire in March 2014, as they simply could not afford to pay the rates that would be due.
We should do more to help small businesses, but helping the smallest businesses should not be the limit of our ambition. We should also be seeking to help businesses as they grow and create more jobs. One of the perverse consequences of the generous system of relief that the coalition has offered is that it creates a shelf that affects businesses when they wish to move to new premises or expand. In an ideal world, we should seek a more tiered system of business rate relief that works on a banded basis so that no business would be hit with a huge increase to its business rates bill as it grows. I accept that that might be difficult to achieve in the current fiscal climate, but we should consider whether we can delay businesses having to pay higher rates when they are creating new jobs or taking on large numbers of trainees and apprentices. That would be consistent with other Government initiatives, such as the employment allowance designed to encourage job creation. We should also consider the case that has been made for targeted rate relief for pop-up shops and malls, which can act as retail incubators and support entrepreneurs.
Those steps would be a start, but they do not touch on some of the greatest problems with the current system of rates, including the valuation system, which many hon. Members have already touched on. Put simply, our system of property taxation on business was designed for the 1980s, but we are trying to apply it to a 21st century world. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the retail sector.
Rumours of the death of retail have been greatly exaggerated. The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee’s inquiry has heard evidence of a thriving sector that is creating many more jobs and opportunities, even as it undergoes radical change. However, the rise of the internet and competition from online-only retailers creates additional pressure on the high street and the so-called bricks and mortar sector. Such competitors are unburdened by business rates and there is a risk, if we leave business rates unreformed, of creating a vicious cycle whereby business rates contribute to the declining retail footprint by putting shops at a competitive disadvantage and adding to their cost base and then, in order to generate the same revenue, rates have to be steadily increased on that declining base, which could end up killing valuable businesses. I hope the Government will consider the strong case being made for a freeze or a cap on business rates and to break the cycle of inflationary increases.
Of course, we should be looking to protect the high street and not just hand a big cheque to the biggest retailer, but, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bedford (Richard Fuller) has pointed out, we also need to be careful in business rate reform not to remove a burden from retail and put it on other areas, such as manufacturing.
I hope that tomorrow the Chancellor will be able to announce serious steps to reduce the burden and begin reforms to move away from our antiquated system to one better suited to the 21st century. I strongly support the Government’s amendment.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1036
7.41 pm
Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe) (Con): Throughout this debate, the Opposition have promoted an idea that seems to suggest that big businesses live in a totally separate world from smaller businesses. When the major employers in my community, such as Saga, Dungeness power station and Eurotunnel, do well, do the small business community say, “What’s that got to do with us? It’s no concern of ours”? They do not, because they understand that the employees of large businesses are the customers of small businesses, that large and small businesses have a customer-supplier relationship and that the strength of the whole local economy is vital. That is why we take issue with a “rob Peter to pay Paul” exercise whereby the revenue for a very small, temporary tax cut for one sector of the business community is raised from another area of the business community. That is what the Labour party proposes to do.
As I said earlier, the cut is small. A cut in business rates that is worth barely more than £1 a day will not answer business people’s concerns about the business rating system. Members across the House have made good calls for a sensible look at reform. I was pleased to hear the Minister say that the Government are about to launch a review and are looking at the appeal system. I hope that we will be able to welcome news from the Chancellor of the Exchequer of smaller increases in business rates for the years ahead. As the structure of the economy changes and more businesses become part of the digital economy, with smaller industrial footprints and a different business model from that of the past, it is of course right that we look at these systems again.
The Chairman of the Communities and Local Government Committee made the point well in his very interesting speech that we should look at the town centre economy and how we can have a system that encourages investment and businesses to go back into the town centres. They may never be what they were in the 1950s—a purely retail environment where people did all their shopping—but we can get different types of businesses back in there.
The Government’s reforms to the business rating system, which encourage local authorities to promote more business activity in their areas and give them for the first time a financial stake in the success of the local business community, must be a good thing. Asking local councils to use the powers that they already have to create what are almost micro-enterprise zones and to give more discretionary relief to businesses in town centres and encourage more activity is exactly the right thing to do. We would support any measure that seeks to extend and look at other opportunities to reform business rates in that way.
The hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), who has great knowledge of the economy in Northern Ireland, said in an intervention that business rates are an important issue but that they must be seen in the round of the balance of other measures as well. The Government have introduced a series of measures that will help the small business community, not least the £2,000 cut in employers’ national insurance, which starts next April and is worth more than four times the Labour party’s proposed measure on business rates.
Labour Members have almost completely ignored the investment coming into regional economies through the
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1037
regional growth fund. In east Kent, the £40 million regional growth fund is making a big difference to the local economy. Grants made through the county council to large and small businesses mean that they are employing people today. Grants are also helping businesses that are otherwise struggling with bank lending to get to the next stage and invest in their future growth.
Such measures, alongside targeted ones to support small businesses, are making a big difference, as is the ability to look creatively at how we can encourage more incubators for businesses, support more pop-up shops and give people starting their own small business the chance to get on to the high street and into physical premises sooner. All those initiatives are welcome, and taken in the round, they are strengthening our economy. For Labour to pick one very small measure and pretend that that makes it the party of small business is absurd.
7.45 pm
Shabana Mahmood (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab): We have had an excellent debate, and many fine speeches have been made in support of our motion calling on the Government to take action to ease the burden of business rates on all sectors.
The Chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), welcomed the review of appeals announced by the Minister during his speech. That measure has been welcomed by hon. Members from both sides of the House. We of course await further details on the shape of that review.
My hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Tom Blenkinsop) reminded the House about small business Saturday. That brilliant initiative, which is taking place on Saturday, was first championed by my hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Mr Umunna). My hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland also reminded us that businesses need help throughout the year, and that would certainly be delivered by the cut and freeze in business rates that we are calling for today.
My hon. Friend the Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern) spoke with passion about businesses in her constituency, and I congratulate them on their early small business Saturday. She told the House that small businesses are fighting for their lives. They need action now, which a cut and freeze in business rates would certainly deliver.
My hon. Friend the Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi) reminded all hon. Members that the Leader of the Opposition has set the pace in this debate, just as he has on energy prices, leaving the Government to flounder and to make U-turn after U-turn.
My hon. Friend the Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson) spoke about the importance of retailers who, as he rightly said, are at the heart of our communities. They in particular are struggling with business rates, and they would certainly welcome our proposals to cut and freeze those rates.
My hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Simon Danczuk) has been campaigning on business rates for as long as he has been in the House. I congratulate him on his campaign to raise awareness about their impact. I look forward to visiting Danczuk’s Deli very soon, if he can sort out his own business rates issue.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1038
My hon. Friend the Member for Swansea West (Geraint Davies) spoke eloquently on how Government is about choice. The Government are making the wrong choices for small businesses up and down our country.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) welcomed the review of the appeals process. She detailed the many concerns relating to the Valuation Office Agency that are shared by hon. Members on both sides of the House.
It is clear that businesses are facing a cost of doingbusiness crisis, alongside the cost-of-living crisis that is hitting families across Britain. Unless the Government change course tomorrow, businesses will be hit by an average rise in business rates of £430 next April, at a total cost to business of £700 million because of the impact of inflation. Business rates have already gone up by an average of £1,500 under this Government. The reality is that many businesses—in fact, more than one in 10 small ones—are now paying more in business rates than in rent.
Up and down the country, including in my constituency, businesses are being put in an impossible situation: either they pass on the increase in rates to their customers, or they continue to face a squeeze until they can no longer afford to stay in business. The pressures small businesses face are stark. Unless things change, business rates will have risen by an average of nearly £2,000 by the end of this Parliament. There are 40,000 empty shops in the UK—one in seven shops are empty—which is blighting the UK’s high streets and town centres.
The British Retail Consortium has estimated that the business rate increase from April next year will mean an increase of £242 million per annum for retailers. It has also said that the increase is likely to put 19,670 full-time jobs at risk, owing to potential shop closures and reduced investment. Our economy can afford neither change.
Why does this issue matter? Small businesses are the engine of our economy. Of the 4.9 million businesses in the UK, 99% are small or medium-sized enterprises. Between them, they employ nearly half the UK work force. Nearly 90% of the people who go from being unemployed to having a private sector job work for a small business. Small businesses are therefore making a huge contribution to tackling unemployment in this country. Small businesses are the driving force behind jobs and growth. They account for more than half the economy. Most of the new jobs in the next 15 years will be created by businesses that do not yet exist. Growth and small businesses go hand in hand. We cannot deliver excellent public services without the contribution that they make to the economy.
The cost of doing business crisis that has been delivered by the Government cannot go on. Our small businesses deserve better. That is why at our annual conference in September, we announced that the next Labour Government would cut business rates in 2015 and freeze them in 2016. That pledge would give businesses a much-needed boost and would mean an average saving of nearly £450 for more than 1.5 million business premises.
Some Government Members have said that that amounts to small beer. That is doing down the needs of businesses, particularly given that action on business rates is the single biggest thing that has been requested by businesses. I wonder whether the small beer phraseology will be used tomorrow if the Chancellor announces a cap of
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1039
2%, as is expected. No doubt, they will trumpet that saving of a couple of hundred pounds, even though our cut would deliver a saving of £450 on average.
Politics is about choices and priorities. It is right that the UK should have a competitive corporation tax rate, but it is also right to take decisions that help small businesses. We will cut business rates on properties with an annual rental value of below £50,000 in 2015 and freeze business rates for those properties in 2016. We will pay for that by reversing the additional cut in the main rate of corporation tax from 21% to 20% in 2015. The main rate of corporation tax is paid by companies with profits of more than £1.5 million—essentially, the larger multinational companies. Companies that have profits of less than £300,000 and that pay the lower rate of corporation tax will not be affected. By contrast, the Government have thus far failed to rise to the scale of the challenge. They have provided temporary relief for the very smallest properties up to a value of £6,000 and partial rate relief for properties up to a value of £12,000. Those measures do not go far enough.
As with energy prices, since our announcement in September, the Government have come under increasing pressure to listen and take action. We heard this morning that they have finally given in and that the Chancellor will announce tomorrow that business rate rises will be limited to 2% in England and Wales next year, rather than rising by 3.2% in line with the retail prices index. That still falls far short of what firms that are suffering from the cost of living crisis have been crying out for. Just as energy bills will still go up under the Government’s plans, business rates will still go up under this proposal. Firms will still see business rates rise by an average of more than £250 in April next year, and that comes on top of the £1,500 by which they have already gone up under this Government.
By contrast, under our plan, 1.5 million start-ups, workshops and shops would benefit from a cut and then a freeze in business rates. If the Government are going to change course, they should do so in a comprehensive and decisive way that would see rate bills cut. They should adopt Labour’s proposal. Nothing less than that comprehensive action will do because our small businesses deserve better than what the Government have delivered. I commend the motion to the House.
7.53 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Kris Hopkins): This has been an interesting debate and I welcome the opportunity to contribute to it. The Government have taken and will continue to take decisive action to drive growth and make Britain’s economy work for everyone. We have done so in spite of the need to reduce the massive deficit that was left by the last Labour Government. This debate is focused on business rates, but as the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis) and my hon. Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins) pointed out, we must consider the broader context.
The Government’s ambition is for the UK to be the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1040
business. We have therefore identified barriers to growth and the measures that need to be taken to overcome them. To that effect, the Government will introduce a £2,000 employment allowance for all businesses in 2014, to reduce their national insurance contributions each year. Up to 1.25 million businesses will benefit, with about 450,000 of them being taken out of paying employer national insurance contributions altogether. More than 90% of the benefit of that allowance will go to small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
In addition, a further 1% reduction in the main rate of corporation tax from April 2015 was announced in the Budget. The rate will be reduced to 21% in April 2014, and then fall to 20% in April 2015. Based on current plans, the UK will have the joint lowest corporation tax in the G20 and by far the lowest rate in the G7 by 2015. That will increase return on investment, incentivise activity across the economy and make the UK more attractive to multinational companies and foreign investors. Those actions will help our economy continue to grow.
We have also promised that we will cut through red tape and make it easier for small businesses to claim small business rate relief. We have doubled that relief, and the amount that small businesses can claim has now trebled. Some £900 million in relief was granted in 2012-13. That is not all. We have frozen the multiplier in real terms, so it has never risen by more than inflation. We have also given local authorities powers to grant their own business rate discounts and funded some 50% of that local discount grant.
I wish to refer to some of the substantial contributions that have been made this evening. My hon. Friend the Member for St Albans (Mrs Main) outlined the wider business aid that the Government have provided and the excellent work of Conservative St Albans council. My hon. Friend the Member for Northampton South (Mr Binley) challenged the credibility of the Labour party’s ability to propose options for business and called the deficit that it left “appalling”.
My hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Anne Marie Morris) supported small businesses and welcomed the small business rate relief, but said that she wanted a transparent appeal process. We will shortly start a review, to which I am sure she will contribute. The hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) also mentioned the appeal process, and I thought that she actually made a very good speech. The hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts) mentioned appeals, too, and I look forward to hearing his contributions to the wider debate once the review is announced.
My hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Mr Ruffley) spoke in support of small businesses and the tax breaks that councils have introduced. He spoke passionately about local businesses in his constituency. My hon. Friend the Member for Burton (Andrew Griffiths), who chairs the all-party beer group, rightly talked up the pub industry, which makes a massive contribution to this country and provides significant small businesses in many villages, towns and cities. He encouraged us all to make the best of small business week by going to our local pub and drinking beer. I assure him that I will be taking his advice this weekend.
There were significant contributions from the hon. Members for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Tom Blenkinsop), for Wirral South (Alison McGovern), for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi), for Swansea
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1041
West (Geraint Davies) and for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson), and although I did not agree with much of the contribution from the hon. Member for Rochdale (Simon Danczuk), it was thoughtful and entertaining in places.
My hon. Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins) made the important point that small businesses are the customers of big businesses, and he completely shot the fox of those Labour Members who do not like corporation tax cuts. The hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke) mentioned her support for the Mary Portas pilot in her constituency and for the Localism Act 2011. She believes, as I do, that people on the ground in the local area know best and should be listened to.
My hon. Friend the Member for Enfield North (Nick de Bois) recognised the massive deficit that the Labour party left at the end of their time in government and that the debate was very much commanded by coalition Members, despite being an Opposition day debate. He also raised the issue of uncollected council tax, and rightly so.
This has been a helpful and interesting debate. We appreciate that at times it is tough for people out there and that budgets have been squeezed, and that is why we have taken action to help people. We have increased tax-free personal allowances to £10,000 from April 2014, saving a typical taxpayer £705. We have frozen fuel duty for three and a half years, saving nearly £7 on a typical tank of fuel. We have helped local authorities to freeze council tax and introduced tax-free child care to support working families with 20% off their child care costs.
The bottom line, however, is that we can do that in a sustainable way only by addressing the huge deficit left by the Labour Government. The economy is turning the corner and the deficit is down by a third. Some 1.4 million private sector jobs have been created in three years by the Government, and interest rates remain at a near record low, benefiting families and businesses.
We still have much to do to address the issues that Labour left us, but this evening I assure the House that the Government are listening to those concerns and will take further action as finances allow. I ask the House to support the Government amendment.
Question put (Standing Order No. 31(2)), That the original words stand part of the Question.
The House divided:
Ayes 216, Noes 271.
Division No. 153]
[
8.3 pm
AYES
Abbott, Ms Diane
Abrahams, Debbie
Ainsworth, rh Mr Bob
Alexander, rh Mr Douglas
Alexander, Heidi
Ali, Rushanara
Allen, Mr Graham
Anderson, Mr David
Ashworth, Jonathan
Austin, Ian
Bailey, Mr Adrian
Bain, Mr William
Balls, rh Ed
Banks, Gordon
Beckett, rh Margaret
Begg, Dame Anne
Benn, rh Hilary
Benton, Mr Joe
Betts, Mr Clive
Blackman-Woods, Roberta
Blenkinsop, Tom
Blomfield, Paul
Bradshaw, rh Mr Ben
Brennan, Kevin
Brown, Lyn
Brown, rh Mr Nicholas
Brown, Mr Russell
Bryant, Chris
Buck, Ms Karen
Burden, Richard
Burnham, rh Andy
Campbell, Mr Alan
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Caton, Martin
Champion, Sarah
Chapman, Jenny
Clark, Katy
Clarke, rh Mr Tom
Clwyd, rh Ann
Coffey, Ann
Cooper, Rosie
Corbyn, Jeremy
Crausby, Mr David
Creagh, Mary
Creasy, Stella
Cruddas, Jon
Cryer, John
Cunningham, Alex
Cunningham, Mr Jim
Curran, Margaret
Danczuk, Simon
Darling, rh Mr Alistair
David, Wayne
Davidson, Mr Ian
Davies, Geraint
De Piero, Gloria
Dobbin, Jim
Dobson, rh Frank
Docherty, Thomas
Doran, Mr Frank
Doughty, Stephen
Dowd, Jim
Doyle, Gemma
Dromey, Jack
Dugher, Michael
Eagle, Ms Angela
Eagle, Maria
Edwards, Jonathan
Efford, Clive
Elliott, Julie
Ellman, Mrs Louise
Engel, Natascha
Esterson, Bill
Evans, Chris
Farrelly, Paul
Field, rh Mr Frank
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flello, Robert
Flint, rh Caroline
Flynn, Paul
Fovargue, Yvonne
Francis, Dr Hywel
Gapes, Mike
Gardiner, Barry
Gilmore, Sheila
Glass, Pat
Glindon, Mrs Mary
Godsiff, Mr Roger
Goggins, rh Paul
Greatrex, Tom
Green, Kate
Greenwood, Lilian
Gwynne, Andrew
Hain, rh Mr Peter
Hamilton, Mr David
Hamilton, Fabian
Hanson, rh Mr David
Harman, rh Ms Harriet
Harris, Mr Tom
Havard, Mr Dai
Healey, rh John
Hendrick, Mark
Hepburn, Mr Stephen
Hodgson, Mrs Sharon
Hoey, Kate
Hopkins, Kelvin
Howarth, rh Mr George
Hunt, Tristram
Irranca-Davies, Huw
Jackson, Glenda
Jamieson, Cathy
Jarvis, Dan
Johnson, Diana
Jones, Graham
Jones, Susan Elan
Kaufman, rh Sir Gerald
Keeley, Barbara
Kendall, Liz
Khan, rh Sadiq
Lavery, Ian
Lazarowicz, Mark
Leslie, Chris
Lewell-Buck, Mrs Emma
Love, Mr Andrew
Lucas, Ian
Mactaggart, Fiona
Mahmood, Mr Khalid
Mahmood, Shabana
Malhotra, Seema
Mann, John
Marsden, Mr Gordon
McCabe, Steve
McCarthy, Kerry
McClymont, Gregg
McDonagh, Siobhain
McDonald, Andy
McDonnell, John
McFadden, rh Mr Pat
McGovern, Alison
McGovern, Jim
McGuire, rh Mrs Anne
McKechin, Ann
McKenzie, Mr Iain
McKinnell, Catherine
Meacher, rh Mr Michael
Meale, Sir Alan
Miller, Andrew
Moon, Mrs Madeleine
Morden, Jessica
Morrice, Graeme
(Livingston)
Morris, Grahame M.
(Easington)
Munn, Meg
Murphy, rh Paul
Murray, Ian
Nandy, Lisa
Nash, Pamela
O'Donnell, Fiona
Onwurah, Chi
Owen, Albert
Pearce, Teresa
Perkins, Toby
Phillipson, Bridget
Powell, Lucy
Qureshi, Yasmin
Raynsford, rh Mr Nick
Reed, Mr Jamie
Reed, Mr Steve
Reynolds, Emma
Reynolds, Jonathan
Robertson, John
Robinson, Mr Geoffrey
Rotheram, Steve
Roy, Mr Frank
Roy, Lindsay
Ruane, Chris
Ruddock, rh Dame Joan
Sarwar, Anas
Sawford, Andy
Seabeck, Alison
Shannon, Jim
Sharma, Mr Virendra
Sheerman, Mr Barry
Sheridan, Jim
Shuker, Gavin
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Slaughter, Mr Andy
Smith, rh Mr Andrew
Smith, Angela
Smith, Nick
Smith, Owen
Spellar, rh Mr John
Stringer, Graham
Stuart, Ms Gisela
Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry
Tami, Mark
Thornberry, Emily
Timms, rh Stephen
Trickett, Jon
Turner, Karl
Twigg, Derek
Twigg, Stephen
Umunna, Mr Chuka
Vaz, Valerie
Walley, Joan
Watson, Mr Tom
Watts, Mr Dave
Whitehead, Dr Alan
Williams, Hywel
Williamson, Chris
Wilson, Phil
Winnick, Mr David
Winterton, rh Ms Rosie
Wood, Mike
Woodcock, John
Wright, David
Wright, Mr Iain
Tellers for the Ayes:
Nic Dakin
and
Julie Hilling
NOES
Adams, Nigel
Afriyie, Adam
Aldous, Peter
Andrew, Stuart
Arbuthnot, rh Mr James
Bacon, Mr Richard
Baker, Norman
Baker, Steve
Baldry, Sir Tony
Baldwin, Harriett
Barclay, Stephen
Barker, rh Gregory
Baron, Mr John
Barwell, Gavin
Bebb, Guto
Bellingham, Mr Henry
Benyon, Richard
Beresford, Sir Paul
Berry, Jake
Bingham, Andrew
Binley, Mr Brian
Blackwood, Nicola
Bone, Mr Peter
Bradley, Karen
Brady, Mr Graham
Brake, rh Tom
Bray, Angie
Brazier, Mr Julian
Bridgen, Andrew
Brine, Steve
Brokenshire, James
Brooke, Annette
Browne, Mr Jeremy
Bruce, Fiona
Bruce, rh Sir Malcolm
Buckland, Mr Robert
Burley, Mr Aidan
Burns, rh Mr Simon
Burrowes, Mr David
Burstow, rh Paul
Burt, rh Alistair
Byles, Dan
Cable, rh Vince
Cairns, Alun
Campbell, rh Sir Menzies
Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair
Carmichael, Neil
Carswell, Mr Douglas
Cash, Mr William
Chishti, Rehman
Chope, Mr Christopher
Clark, rh Greg
Coffey, Dr Thérèse
Collins, Damian
Colvile, Oliver
Cox, Mr Geoffrey
Crabb, Stephen
Crouch, Tracey
Davies, David T. C.
(Monmouth)
Davies, Glyn
Davis, rh Mr David
de Bois, Nick
Dinenage, Caroline
Dorrell, rh Mr Stephen
Doyle-Price, Jackie
Duddridge, James
Duncan, rh Mr Alan
Duncan Smith, rh Mr Iain
Dunne, Mr Philip
Ellis, Michael
Ellwood, Mr Tobias
Elphicke, Charlie
Eustice, George
Evans, Graham
Evennett, Mr David
Featherstone, Lynne
Field, Mark
Foster, rh Mr Don
Freeman, George
Freer, Mike
Fuller, Richard
Gale, Sir Roger
Garnier, Sir Edward
Garnier, Mark
Gauke, Mr David
George, Andrew
Gibb, Mr Nick
Glen, John
Goldsmith, Zac
Goodwill, Mr Robert
Grant, Mrs Helen
Grayling, rh Chris
Green, rh Damian
Grieve, rh Mr Dominic
Griffiths, Andrew
Gummer, Ben
Halfon, Robert
Hancock, Mr Mike
Hands, Greg
Harper, Mr Mark
Harrington, Richard
Harris, Rebecca
Hart, Simon
Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan
Hayes, rh Mr John
Heald, Oliver
Heath, Mr David
Heaton-Harris, Chris
Hemming, John
Henderson, Gordon
Hendry, Charles
Herbert, rh Nick
Hinds, Damian
Hoban, Mr Mark
Hollingbery, George
Hollobone, Mr Philip
Holloway, Mr Adam
Hopkins, Kris
Horwood, Martin
Howarth, Sir Gerald
Howell, John
Hughes, rh Simon
Huppert, Dr Julian
Jackson, Mr Stewart
Javid, Sajid
Johnson, Gareth
Jones, Andrew
Jones, rh Mr David
Jones, Mr Marcus
Kawczynski, Daniel
Kelly, Chris
Kennedy, rh Mr Charles
Kirby, Simon
Knight, rh Sir Greg
Kwarteng, Kwasi
Lamb, Norman
Lancaster, Mark
Lansley, rh Mr Andrew
Latham, Pauline
Laws, rh Mr David
Leadsom, Andrea
Lee, Jessica
Lee, Dr Phillip
Lefroy, Jeremy
Leigh, Sir Edward
Leslie, Charlotte
Letwin, rh Mr Oliver
Lewis, Brandon
Lewis, Dr Julian
Lloyd, Stephen
Lopresti, Jack
Loughton, Tim
Luff, Peter
Main, Mrs Anne
McCartney, Jason
McCartney, Karl
McIntosh, Miss Anne
McLoughlin, rh Mr Patrick
McPartland, Stephen
McVey, Esther
Menzies, Mark
Metcalfe, Stephen
Mills, Nigel
Milton, Anne
Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew
Moore, rh Michael
Morgan, Nicky
Morris, Anne Marie
Morris, David
Mosley, Stephen
Mowat, David
Mulholland, Greg
Mundell, rh David
Munt, Tessa
Murray, Sheryll
Murrison, Dr Andrew
Neill, Robert
Newmark, Mr Brooks
Newton, Sarah
Nokes, Caroline
Norman, Jesse
Nuttall, Mr David
Offord, Dr Matthew
Ollerenshaw, Eric
Opperman, Guy
Ottaway, rh Richard
Paice, rh Sir James
Parish, Neil
Pawsey, Mark
Penning, Mike
Penrose, John
Percy, Andrew
Perry, Claire
Phillips, Stephen
Pickles, rh Mr Eric
Pincher, Christopher
Poulter, Dr Daniel
Prisk, Mr Mark
Pugh, John
Raab, Mr Dominic
Reckless, Mark
Redwood, rh Mr John
Rees-Mogg, Jacob
Reevell, Simon
Reid, Mr Alan
Robathan, rh Mr Andrew
Robertson, rh Hugh
Robertson, Mr Laurence
Rogerson, Dan
Rudd, Amber
Ruffley, Mr David
Rutley, David
Sandys, Laura
Scott, Mr Lee
Selous, Andrew
Shelbrooke, Alec
Simmonds, Mark
Skidmore, Chris
Smith, Chloe
Smith, Henry
Smith, Sir Robert
Soames, rh Nicholas
Soubry, Anna
Spencer, Mr Mark
Stanley, rh Sir John
Stevenson, John
Stewart, Bob
Stewart, Iain
Streeter, Mr Gary
Stride, Mel
Stuart, Mr Graham
Stunell, rh Sir Andrew
Sturdy, Julian
Swales, Ian
Swayne, rh Mr Desmond
Swinson, Jo
Syms, Mr Robert
Thurso, John
Timpson, Mr Edward
Tomlinson, Justin
Tredinnick, David
Truss, Elizabeth
Turner, Mr Andrew
Tyrie, Mr Andrew
Uppal, Paul
Vara, Mr Shailesh
Vickers, Martin
Villiers, rh Mrs Theresa
Walker, Mr Charles
Walker, Mr Robin
Walter, Mr Robert
Watkinson, Dame Angela
Weatherley, Mike
Webb, Steve
Wharton, James
Wheeler, Heather
White, Chris
Whittaker, Craig
Whittingdale, Mr John
Wiggin, Bill
Williams, Mr Mark
Williams, Roger
Williams, Stephen
Williamson, Gavin
Willott, Jenny
Wilson, Mr Rob
Wollaston, Dr Sarah
Wright, Jeremy
Wright, Simon
Yeo, Mr Tim
Young, rh Sir George
Tellers for the Noes:
Mark Hunter
and
Mr Sam Gyimah
Question accordingly negatived.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1042
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1043
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1044
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1045
Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 31(2)), That the proposed words be there added.
The House divided:
Ayes 271, Noes 214.
Division No. 154]
[
8.16 pm
AYES
Adams, Nigel
Afriyie, Adam
Aldous, Peter
Amess, Mr David
Andrew, Stuart
Arbuthnot, rh Mr James
Bacon, Mr Richard
Baker, Norman
Baker, Steve
Baldry, Sir Tony
Baldwin, Harriett
Barclay, Stephen
Barker, rh Gregory
Baron, Mr John
Barwell, Gavin
Bebb, Guto
Bellingham, Mr Henry
Benyon, Richard
Beresford, Sir Paul
Berry, Jake
Bingham, Andrew
Binley, Mr Brian
Blackwood, Nicola
Bone, Mr Peter
Bradley, Karen
Brady, Mr Graham
Brake, rh Tom
Bray, Angie
Brazier, Mr Julian
Bridgen, Andrew
Brine, Steve
Brokenshire, James
Brooke, Annette
Browne, Mr Jeremy
Bruce, Fiona
Bruce, rh Sir Malcolm
Buckland, Mr Robert
Burley, Mr Aidan
Burns, rh Mr Simon
Burrowes, Mr David
Burstow, rh Paul
Burt, rh Alistair
Byles, Dan
Cable, rh Vince
Cairns, Alun
Campbell, rh Sir Menzies
Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair
Carmichael, Neil
Carswell, Mr Douglas
Chishti, Rehman
Chope, Mr Christopher
Clark, rh Greg
Coffey, Dr Thérèse
Collins, Damian
Colvile, Oliver
Cox, Mr Geoffrey
Crabb, Stephen
Crouch, Tracey
Davies, David T. C.
(Monmouth)
Davies, Glyn
Davies, Philip
Davis, rh Mr David
de Bois, Nick
Dinenage, Caroline
Dorrell, rh Mr Stephen
Doyle-Price, Jackie
Duddridge, James
Duncan Smith, rh Mr Iain
Dunne, Mr Philip
Ellis, Michael
Ellwood, Mr Tobias
Elphicke, Charlie
Eustice, George
Evans, Graham
Evennett, Mr David
Featherstone, Lynne
Field, Mark
Foster, rh Mr Don
Freeman, George
Freer, Mike
Fuller, Richard
Gale, Sir Roger
Garnier, Sir Edward
Garnier, Mark
Gauke, Mr David
George, Andrew
Gibb, Mr Nick
Glen, John
Goldsmith, Zac
Goodwill, Mr Robert
Grant, Mrs Helen
Grayling, rh Chris
Green, rh Damian
Grieve, rh Mr Dominic
Griffiths, Andrew
Gummer, Ben
Halfon, Robert
Hancock, Mr Mike
Hands, Greg
Harper, Mr Mark
Harrington, Richard
Harris, Rebecca
Hart, Simon
Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan
Hayes, rh Mr John
Heald, Oliver
Heath, Mr David
Heaton-Harris, Chris
Hemming, John
Henderson, Gordon
Hendry, Charles
Herbert, rh Nick
Hinds, Damian
Hoban, Mr Mark
Hollingbery, George
Hollobone, Mr Philip
Holloway, Mr Adam
Hopkins, Kris
Horwood, Martin
Howarth, Sir Gerald
Howell, John
Hughes, rh Simon
Huppert, Dr Julian
Jackson, Mr Stewart
Javid, Sajid
Johnson, Gareth
Jones, Andrew
Jones, rh Mr David
Jones, Mr Marcus
Kawczynski, Daniel
Kelly, Chris
Kennedy, rh Mr Charles
Kirby, Simon
Knight, rh Sir Greg
Kwarteng, Kwasi
Lamb, Norman
Lancaster, Mark
Lansley, rh Mr Andrew
Latham, Pauline
Laws, rh Mr David
Leadsom, Andrea
Lee, Jessica
Lee, Dr Phillip
Lefroy, Jeremy
Leigh, Sir Edward
Leslie, Charlotte
Letwin, rh Mr Oliver
Lewis, Brandon
Lewis, Dr Julian
Lloyd, Stephen
Lopresti, Jack
Loughton, Tim
Luff, Peter
Main, Mrs Anne
McCartney, Jason
McCartney, Karl
McIntosh, Miss Anne
McLoughlin, rh Mr Patrick
McPartland, Stephen
McVey, Esther
Menzies, Mark
Metcalfe, Stephen
Mills, Nigel
Milton, Anne
Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew
Moore, rh Michael
Morgan, Nicky
Morris, Anne Marie
Morris, David
Morris, James
Mosley, Stephen
Mowat, David
Mulholland, Greg
Mundell, rh David
Munt, Tessa
Murray, Sheryll
Murrison, Dr Andrew
Neill, Robert
Newmark, Mr Brooks
Newton, Sarah
Nokes, Caroline
Norman, Jesse
Nuttall, Mr David
Offord, Dr Matthew
Ollerenshaw, Eric
Opperman, Guy
Ottaway, rh Richard
Paice, rh Sir James
Parish, Neil
Pawsey, Mark
Penning, Mike
Penrose, John
Percy, Andrew
Perry, Claire
Phillips, Stephen
Pickles, rh Mr Eric
Pincher, Christopher
Poulter, Dr Daniel
Prisk, Mr Mark
Pugh, John
Raab, Mr Dominic
Reckless, Mark
Redwood, rh Mr John
Rees-Mogg, Jacob
Reevell, Simon
Reid, Mr Alan
Robathan, rh Mr Andrew
Robertson, rh Hugh
Robertson, Mr Laurence
Rogerson, Dan
Rudd, Amber
Ruffley, Mr David
Rutley, David
Sandys, Laura
Scott, Mr Lee
Selous, Andrew
Shelbrooke, Alec
Simmonds, Mark
Skidmore, Chris
Smith, Chloe
Smith, Henry
Smith, Sir Robert
Soubry, Anna
Spencer, Mr Mark
Stanley, rh Sir John
Stevenson, John
Stewart, Bob
Stewart, Iain
Streeter, Mr Gary
Stride, Mel
Stuart, Mr Graham
Stunell, rh Sir Andrew
Sturdy, Julian
Swales, Ian
Swayne, rh Mr Desmond
Swinson, Jo
Syms, Mr Robert
Thurso, John
Timpson, Mr Edward
Tomlinson, Justin
Tredinnick, David
Truss, Elizabeth
Turner, Mr Andrew
Tyrie, Mr Andrew
Uppal, Paul
Vara, Mr Shailesh
Vickers, Martin
Villiers, rh Mrs Theresa
Walker, Mr Charles
Walker, Mr Robin
Walter, Mr Robert
Watkinson, Dame Angela
Weatherley, Mike
Webb, Steve
Wharton, James
Wheeler, Heather
White, Chris
Whittaker, Craig
Whittingdale, Mr John
Wiggin, Bill
Williams, Mr Mark
Williams, Roger
Williams, Stephen
Williamson, Gavin
Willott, Jenny
Wilson, Mr Rob
Wollaston, Dr Sarah
Wright, Jeremy
Wright, Simon
Yeo, Mr Tim
Young, rh Sir George
Tellers for the Ayes:
Mr Sam Gyimah
and
Mark Hunter
NOES
Abbott, Ms Diane
Abrahams, Debbie
Ainsworth, rh Mr Bob
Alexander, rh Mr Douglas
Alexander, Heidi
Ali, Rushanara
Anderson, Mr David
Ashworth, Jonathan
Austin, Ian
Bailey, Mr Adrian
Bain, Mr William
Balls, rh Ed
Banks, Gordon
Beckett, rh Margaret
Begg, Dame Anne
Benn, rh Hilary
Benton, Mr Joe
Betts, Mr Clive
Blackman-Woods, Roberta
Blenkinsop, Tom
Blomfield, Paul
Bradshaw, rh Mr Ben
Brennan, Kevin
Brown, Lyn
Brown, rh Mr Nicholas
Brown, Mr Russell
Bryant, Chris
Buck, Ms Karen
Burden, Richard
Burnham, rh Andy
Campbell, Mr Alan
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Caton, Martin
Champion, Sarah
Chapman, Jenny
Clark, Katy
Clarke, rh Mr Tom
Clwyd, rh Ann
Coffey, Ann
Cooper, Rosie
Corbyn, Jeremy
Crausby, Mr David
Creagh, Mary
Creasy, Stella
Cruddas, Jon
Cryer, John
Cunningham, Alex
Cunningham, Mr Jim
Curran, Margaret
Danczuk, Simon
Darling, rh Mr Alistair
David, Wayne
Davidson, Mr Ian
Davies, Geraint
De Piero, Gloria
Dobbin, Jim
Dobson, rh Frank
Docherty, Thomas
Doran, Mr Frank
Doughty, Stephen
Dowd, Jim
Doyle, Gemma
Dromey, Jack
Dugher, Michael
Eagle, Ms Angela
Eagle, Maria
Edwards, Jonathan
Efford, Clive
Elliott, Julie
Ellman, Mrs Louise
Engel, Natascha
Esterson, Bill
Evans, Chris
Farrelly, Paul
Field, rh Mr Frank
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flello, Robert
Flint, rh Caroline
Flynn, Paul
Fovargue, Yvonne
Francis, Dr Hywel
Gapes, Mike
Gardiner, Barry
Gilmore, Sheila
Glass, Pat
Glindon, Mrs Mary
Godsiff, Mr Roger
Goggins, rh Paul
Greatrex, Tom
Green, Kate
Greenwood, Lilian
Gwynne, Andrew
Hain, rh Mr Peter
Hamilton, Mr David
Hamilton, Fabian
Hanson, rh Mr David
Harman, rh Ms Harriet
Harris, Mr Tom
Havard, Mr Dai
Healey, rh John
Hendrick, Mark
Hepburn, Mr Stephen
Hodgson, Mrs Sharon
Hoey, Kate
Hopkins, Kelvin
Howarth, rh Mr George
Hunt, Tristram
Irranca-Davies, Huw
Jamieson, Cathy
Jarvis, Dan
Johnson, Diana
Jones, Graham
Jones, Susan Elan
Kaufman, rh Sir Gerald
Keeley, Barbara
Kendall, Liz
Khan, rh Sadiq
Lavery, Ian
Lazarowicz, Mark
Leslie, Chris
Lewell-Buck, Mrs Emma
Love, Mr Andrew
Lucas, Ian
Mactaggart, Fiona
Mahmood, Mr Khalid
Mahmood, Shabana
Malhotra, Seema
Mann, John
Marsden, Mr Gordon
McCabe, Steve
McCarthy, Kerry
McClymont, Gregg
McDonagh, Siobhain
McDonald, Andy
McDonnell, John
McFadden, rh Mr Pat
McGovern, Alison
McGovern, Jim
McGuire, rh Mrs Anne
McKechin, Ann
McKenzie, Mr Iain
McKinnell, Catherine
Meacher, rh Mr Michael
Meale, Sir Alan
Miller, Andrew
Moon, Mrs Madeleine
Morden, Jessica
Morrice, Graeme
(Livingston)
Morris, Grahame M.
(Easington)
Munn, Meg
Murphy, rh Paul
Murray, Ian
Nandy, Lisa
Nash, Pamela
O'Donnell, Fiona
Onwurah, Chi
Owen, Albert
Pearce, Teresa
Perkins, Toby
Phillipson, Bridget
Powell, Lucy
Qureshi, Yasmin
Raynsford, rh Mr Nick
Reed, Mr Jamie
Reed, Mr Steve
Reynolds, Emma
Reynolds, Jonathan
Robertson, John
Robinson, Mr Geoffrey
Rotheram, Steve
Roy, Mr Frank
Roy, Lindsay
Ruane, Chris
Ruddock, rh Dame Joan
Sarwar, Anas
Sawford, Andy
Seabeck, Alison
Shannon, Jim
Sharma, Mr Virendra
Sheerman, Mr Barry
Sheridan, Jim
Shuker, Gavin
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Slaughter, Mr Andy
Smith, rh Mr Andrew
Smith, Angela
Smith, Nick
Smith, Owen
Spellar, rh Mr John
Stringer, Graham
Stuart, Ms Gisela
Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry
Tami, Mark
Thornberry, Emily
Timms, rh Stephen
Trickett, Jon
Turner, Karl
Twigg, Derek
Twigg, Stephen
Umunna, Mr Chuka
Vaz, Valerie
Walley, Joan
Watson, Mr Tom
Watts, Mr Dave
Whitehead, Dr Alan
Williams, Hywel
Williamson, Chris
Wilson, Phil
Winnick, Mr David
Winterton, rh Ms Rosie
Wood, Mike
Woodcock, John
Wright, David
Wright, Mr Iain
Tellers for the Noes:
Nic Dakin
and
Julie Hilling
Question accordingly agreed to.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1046
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1047
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1048
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1049
The Deputy Speaker declared the main Question, as amended, to be agreed to (Standing Order No. 31(2)).
That this House acknowledges that this Government is taking decisive action to back business and make Britain’s economy work for everyone; notes that the Government has cut business rates, National Insurance and corporation tax for small firms despite the need to tackle the deficit left by the last Administration; observes that the value of small business rate relief has trebled since the general election and small business rate relief will be considered in the Autumn Statement; notes how the overall multiplier has been frozen in real terms; applauds the abolition of the unfair port taxes; welcomes the Localism Act which has made small business rate relief easier to claim and allows councils to introduce local discounts; notes with approval the rate relief in 24 enterprise zones; further welcomes the new empty rate relief for new build in contrast to the last Administration’s increases in empty rates; endorses the way in which local rate retention now gives councils new incentives to support local enterprise; and rejects the policy proposals from Her Majesty’s Opposition on rates which would involve increasing corporation tax on all firms, undermining British jobs and businesses.
Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con): On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Have you been made aware that a Minister is to come to the House and make an urgent statement, given that Sky News has been reporting all evening that tomorrow’s autumn statement will refer to a 1% cut in departmental budgets other than those that are protected? It is not an “if” or a “maybe”, but a definite. It is not the first leak of this kind, and the Chancellor must be mortified. I wonder if he will come to the House to announce a leak inquiry.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo): I have not seen the Sky broadcast, and I have not been notified of any such inquiry, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is right, and the Chancellor will indeed be mortified. Mr Speaker has made it absolutely clear that any Government announcement should be made to the House first. I can be of no further help this evening, but the Leader of the House is present, and I am sure that he has noted the point that has been raised.
Business of the House (10 December)
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That at the sitting on Tuesday 10 December, notwithstanding Standing Order No. 20 (Time for taking private business), the Private Business set down by the Chairman of Ways and Means may be entered upon at any hour, and may then be proceeded with, though opposed, for three hours, after which the Speaker shall interrupt the business.—(Mr Lansley.)
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1050
Petitions
Ennerdale Swimming Pool (Kingston upon Hull)
8.28 pm
Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab): I wish to present a petition from 2,171 residents in the Hull area, who have signed it in support of Ennerdale Swimming Pool. I thank Peter Richardson, Nina Curran and others at Kingston upon Hull swimming club for all their efforts. As Hull is the UK City of Culture 2017, I hope that a way can be found of protecting the long-term future of this pool that serves the entire city of Hull so well.
The Petition of residents of Kingston upon Hull,
Declares that the Petitioners note that Ennerdale Leisure Centre’s swimming pool is the only swimming facility serving the entire Hull area that is recognised by the Amateur Swimming Association as being of competition standard; further notes that Hull City Council is considering proposals to close Ennerdale's swimming pool, due to the unfair level of local authority funding cuts that Hull is receiving from the Coalition Government, when compared to far less severe cuts being made to councils in wealthier areas of the country.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to request Hull councillors to work with service users to find ways of saving Ennerdale swimming pool and provide Hull with a fairer deal on funding that will enable Ennerdale swimming pool to remain open, alongside other valued sports and leisure facilities in Hull.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.
Rural Fuel Rebate in Cornwall
8.30 pm
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD): It is my honour to present a petition on behalf of 2,589 of my constituents in the mainland area of west Cornwall in support of a 5p a litre reduction in road fuel duty, which my constituents on the Isles of Scilly have enjoyed since the spring of this year. Given that the Government’s supplementary call for information closes on Friday this week, my constituents urge them to acknowledge that the forecourt price is neither the only nor the most appropriate proxy measure of rural transport poverty, especially as many households have no choice but to have a private car in order to maintain a living.
The Petition of residents of the UK,
Declares that there are currently proposals to extend the rural fuel rebate scheme to Cornwall, initially by five pence per litre.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government and the European Commission to fully back the plan and to introduce it as soon as they can.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1051
Sports Funding (Rural Communities)
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—(Mark Hunter.)
8.32 pm
Stephen Barclay (North East Cambridgeshire) (Con): There is a wide discrepancy in sports funding between cities and rural communities, far in excess of what can be logically explained by population levels or other factors that can produce spikes, such as national centres of excellence in specific sports. I hope that the Minister will clarify her Department’s understanding of that variance, and tell me what action will be taken to address it. Since 2010, North East Cambridgeshire has received on average £120,000 a year from Sport England, from its annual budget of £322.6 million. That represents just 0.03% of Sport England’s budget, and I am keen to hear from the Minister why officials feel that that figure is justified, given the Government’s sizeable contribution to sports funding.
The Library confirms that, since 1995, North East Cambridgeshire has received a total of £2.9 million compared with, for example, Hammersmith, which has received £56 million. That could partly be explained by the fact that the GB rowing team is based in Hammersmith, but does that really explain that massive discrepancy? We should also take into account that some areas are getting double funding. Some are getting Olympic legacy funding as well as awards from Sport England, for example. Hammersmith received awards for tennis and sailing in September.
I wish to draw the House’s attention to three issues that are driving this discrepancy, which has existed for some time. My parliamentary neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for North West Cambridgeshire (Mr Vara), was highlighting in parliamentary questions in 2009 his concern that communities such as ours were not getting an adequate allocation of taxpayer funds.
Three factors are particularly fuelling the current issue, the first of which is the complexity of the number of bodies that are allocating funds on behalf of the taxpayer. Sport England itself has 11 different grant schemes, and my constituency has never had a grant under nine of them; we have only ever qualified for two of the 11 schemes. There is no yearly breakdown of how much Sport England allocates under the schemes, and there are different time scales for the spending envelopes, so they do not run in a holistic way that fits together. Sport England’s staff costs this year are £13.5 million, which, given that a sizeable proportion of its budget is outsourced to national Government budgets, is not inconsiderable in terms of administrative costs. Indeed, its chief executive earns more than the Prime Minister, although that seems not uncommon in the sports world.
In addition to the 11 grants that Sport England gives, 46 national governing bodies are also given grants, and each of those has myriad schemes. For example, the Lawn Tennis Association makes a split between capital investment and a separate revenue fund, and within those the criteria frequently change. Those who get involved because they love sport, and not because they want to be accountants or to fill out forms, are often confronted with an alphabet soup of grant-making
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1052
bodies, and that is before they get the match funding of local authorities, charities and the other bodies that they must deal with.
The second issue driving this problem is the confusion in, and frequent changes to, the criteria applied. Some criteria appear actively to discriminate—for logical reasons—against rural communities. Participation is, understandably often a key criterion—bodies want people to play if they are giving a grant—but that tends to drive funding purely to cities, often on the basis of flawed research. For example, all the eight priority areas identified by the LTA were in cities; it did not sample one rural area, so its criteria are distorting the basis on which it makes its granting decisions.
We also encounter a remarkable lack of consistency, which is not just a rural issue. Let us consider boxing in London. It is funded by the Mayor of London, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Education, the Department for Communities and Local Government and local authorities, all of which have different criteria and assess in different ways. I am curious as to what is being done to simplify and standardise the way in which these grants are being allocated.
The third issue is the lack of transparency in awards. Of course we see individual awards—the £5,000 awarded to X or the £10,000 awarded to Y—but who is looking at whether all 46 national governing bodies are allocating in the same concentrated areas? Who is looking holistically to see whether some areas are underlapping and other areas are overlapping? Where is the accountability for those areas that are not directing funds to needs, such as the needs in my constituency? How do we get transparency on that issue?
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP): I spoke to the hon. Gentleman earlier to seek his indulgence in allowing me to intervene. Helpfully, all the sporting projects in the countryside in Northern Ireland are funded by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and by councils. However, because of social isolation and the need to have sporting projects in rural communities, we have also sought help from Europe and through the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. We have used that money to help rural communities. Does the hon. Gentleman feel it would be helpful if the Minister considered that as an option to help rural communities to seek and access funding?
Stephen Barclay: The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, which reflects the complexity of the different bodies and the role of the Department in drawing this matter together and producing data that he and I can use to scrutinise how effective the taxpayer pound is in getting to the front line. He is right to draw attention to the isolation in rural communities where there are not the same options as in the cities. That is why it is important that we do not miss out across the 46 different governing bodies.
I also want highlight the lack of accountability around how awards are allocated. There is a real irony here. If we look at elite sport—at British cycling for example—we see the power and accuracy of real-time data. Those data enable us to understand what is happening across the full activity, and yet for the Department and the national governing bodies, it is unclear how that is being demonstrated to Members of Parliament so that
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1053
we can accurately see whether the £120,000 we are getting, which is a fifth of what Cambridge gets—and Cambridge is just down the road—is actually the right level. The Minister’s assistance on that point would be appreciated.
I want to bring my argument to life with a few local examples. Let me take the complexity of the various bodies. Wisbech tennis club in my constituency currently has 130 members, which is a 14% increase on last year, and yet it has only grass courts and no lights. The club is very restricted as to when it can play, in terms both of times of year and times of day. If it rains, play must be suspended. The Lawn Tennis Association advised the club in 2012 that its bid for two courts and lights was too modest, and that to win LTA support it had to put in a bid for four courts. Sport England then changed the funding of the LTA, which led the LTA to withdraw its support. It was a classic example of two sporting bodies giving conflicting advice, which meant that the bid failed.
The club then put in a second bid. It still followed the LTA’s advice of four courts, but took out the lights. Sport England turned it down. This was logical to a certain extent, because without lights the club could not get the same numbers of people playing. The club was therefore penalised a second time for following a national governing body’s advice on securing funding from another body, Sport England, which strikes me as a pretty illogical process.
A third bid is now proposed for next week. The club has already spent £8,000 to £9,000 on planning and other things to get to exactly where it was at the very start, which is a bid for two courts with lights. This is a sport in a growing market town with massive levels of immigration from eastern Europe. Tennis helps to bring people together in the way that sport does at its best.
Let us look now at communication. Coates football has teams of all ages and 11 acres of playing fields, but no changing facilities. I welcome the fact that Sport England confirmed funding for the club, which coincidentally came through last week, but unless the funding comes from the other bodies, there will be insufficient money to deliver the facilities. Again, we need the different bodies to work together.
The third issue is the challenge to national governing bodies. On Friday, I will have the privilege of attending March amateur boxing in the Braza club. Some 40 kids train at the club three or more nights a week, yet the club has never had a penny of grant from the Amateur Boxing Association, which is given £4.8 million by Sport England. As taxpayers, we hand over £5.8 million to boxing, yet only £1 million of that goes to the clubs directly. The question is: where is the rest going? The chief executive of the body is on a six-figure salary, yet the volunteers at March boxing have to pay a fee to the ABA. The Government are quite rightly allocating significant funds to the boxing body, but the kids who are training in the club and not causing trouble and the volunteers are not getting the support that they need.
The Rugby Football Union has done many good things. It has been involved in some good schemes with Thomas Clarkson in my constituency, but if we look at the data, we see that 0.74% of its annual funding goes to the eastern counties of Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk, yet we form 4.5% of the population. How am I, as a Member of Parliament, supposed to assess whether that is the right level? What is the role of the Department in assisting me in doing so?
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1054
I welcome the allocation of funds from the Minister. I know that she is passionate about sport, and indeed the hon. Member for Bradford South (Mr Sutcliffe) was widely respected across the House as a Sports Minister who was passionate about getting money to the community groups, but there is an alphabet soup of bodies and there is complexity. Complexity always drives up costs. We are talking about volunteers in our community groups doing what we all want them to, yet the system is not getting the money to them in communities such as mine. I hope that the Minister will agree to meet me to discuss the bids coming in next week from Wisbech tennis club, Coates and March boxing club so that we can deliver on our shared objective of getting more people playing sport in rural communities such as north-east Cambridgeshire.
8.45 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Mrs Helen Grant): I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Stephen Barclay) for raising the important issue of sport funding in rural communities. A key factor in our winning the bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games was our ambition to inspire people across the whole country to take up sport.
The Government’s 10-point sport legacy action plan sets out in detail what we are doing to deliver lasting sporting legacy from the games for the whole country, including rural communities. That includes more than £1 billion of investment from Sport England for youth and community sport over the period 2013 to 2017. That is designed to inspire people from every part of the country to take up and enjoy sport—not just in our cities and towns, but in our rural communities too. It includes £493 million direct to sport’s governing bodies, as well money for school games and the development of community sports facilities. I emphasise that that applies across the country, in both urban and rural areas.
Sport England’s open funding programmes, such as Inspired Facilities and Protecting Playing Fields, do not discriminate according to type of area—that is, whether it is urban or rural. Applications for funding are assessed on their individual merits against the criteria for that programme. Sport England’s Inspired Facilities funding programme has already awarded grants to nearly 1,400 community sports clubs across the country to upgrade their facilities. Projects have ranged from fixing leaky roofs to installing showers and accessible changing rooms, and even supplying new lights at hockey clubs. I had the pleasure of switching on such lights in Kent just a few weeks ago.
North East Cambridgeshire has benefited too. In 2011, Sport England ran a funding workshop for local clubs in the area. As a result, I am delighted to report that six clubs in my hon. Friend’s constituency have been successful in receiving Inspired Facilities awards with grants totalling more than £300,000.
Of course, competition for funding remains extremely high and the quality of applications is increasing all the time. For example, in the previous round of Inspired Facilities, Sport England received more than a 1,000 applications for about £55 million of funding when it had only £16.2 million available.
If a club is unsuccessful in its application, Sport England offers individual feedback and support to help it prepare a stronger application for a future funding
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1055
round. Sport England engages regularly with North East Cambridgeshire and has provided advice and guidance about the possible redevelopment of Ely leisure centre. Cambridgeshire county council has put in a bid for the Queen’s baton relay, which covers Fenland and my hon. Friend’s constituency and has activity planned in the Wisbech area.
Sport England is also promoting its Sportivate programme in the fenland area, where take-up rates are currently low. The programme gives all secondary school children the chance to experience a range of sports, from conventional ones such as golf and tennis to wakeboarding and free running. More than 225,000 young people have so far benefited from Sportivate, and I look forward to hearing that many more are enjoying those opportunity in the fenlands, too. The county sports partnership is also working with the College of West Anglia on a project for people who are not in education, employment or training, and that will include Wisbech.
My hon. Friend rightly referred to Wisbech lawn tennis club. I understand that there has now been some good and sensible dialogue between the club and the Lawn Tennis Association, that a staged approach to building the new facilities he referred to has been recommended and that the LTA has provided the club with a loan of £50,000. I also understand that an application for Inspired Facilities funding is currently under consideration. I wish the club every success in securing funding from Sport England.
My hon. Friend referred to participation. We are seeing very positive trends across the country, with
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1056
15.3 million adults playing sport at least once a week, which is 1.4 million more than when London won the bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2005. I am also particularly pleased that over 500,000 more women are playing sport regularly since we won the bid. Over 83,000 Sport Makers are volunteering regularly in their local communities, 16,000 schools have signed up to the school games programme, and around 100 county festivals of sport took place across the country this year. Through the 2012 games and other major events, we have raised the level of ambition in sport in this country for people in every community. Sport and leisure activities are vital to this country to energise young people’s ambitions and transform their lives.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this important issue and to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for his contribution, and I will write to him about the matter he raised. I hope that I have provided my hon. Friend with some reassurance about the Government’s commitment to rural communities and to increasing participation in sport, regardless of where people live, whether in inner cities, small towns, seaside resorts or rural communities. If he remains concerned, I would of course be very happy to meet him. I also recommend that he organises a meeting with his Sport England regional representative—those representatives are very helpful and informative. The Government certainly take sport seriously and want to ensure that its broader social benefits for all communities are widely recognised and enjoyed.
8.53 pm
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1057
Deferred Divisions
European Union
That the draft European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Colombia and Peru Trade Agreement) Order 2013, which was laid before this House on 21 October, be approved.
The House divided:
Ayes 333, Noes 61.
Division No. 148]
AYES
Adams, Nigel
Afriyie, Adam
Aldous, Peter
Alexander, rh Danny
Amess, Mr David
Andrew, Stuart
Arbuthnot, rh Mr James
Bacon, Mr Richard
Baker, Norman
Baker, Steve
Baldry, Sir Tony
Baldwin, Harriett
Barclay, Stephen
Barker, rh Gregory
Baron, Mr John
Barwell, Gavin
Bebb, Guto
Beith, rh Sir Alan
Bellingham, Mr Henry
Benyon, Richard
Beresford, Sir Paul
Berry, Jake
Bingham, Andrew
Birtwistle, Gordon
Blackman, Bob
Blackwood, Nicola
Blunt, Mr Crispin
Boles, Nick
Bone, Mr Peter
Bottomley, Sir Peter
Bradley, Karen
Brady, Mr Graham
Brake, rh Tom
Bray, Angie
Brazier, Mr Julian
Bridgen, Andrew
Brine, Steve
Brooke, Annette
Browne, Mr Jeremy
Bruce, Fiona
Bruce, rh Sir Malcolm
Buckland, Mr Robert
Burley, Mr Aidan
Burns, Conor
Burns, rh Mr Simon
Burrowes, Mr David
Burstow, rh Paul
Burt, rh Alistair
Burt, Lorely
Byles, Dan
Cable, rh Vince
Cairns, Alun
Campbell, Mr Gregory
Campbell, rh Sir Menzies
Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair
Carmichael, Neil
Chishti, Rehman
Chope, Mr Christopher
Clark, rh Greg
Clarke, rh Mr Kenneth
Clegg, rh Mr Nick
Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey
Coffey, Dr Thérèse
Collins, Damian
Colvile, Oliver
Crabb, Stephen
Crockart, Mike
Crouch, Tracey
Davey, rh Mr Edward
Davies, David T. C.
(Monmouth)
Davies, Glyn
Davies, Philip
de Bois, Nick
Dinenage, Caroline
Dodds, rh Mr Nigel
Dorrell, rh Mr Stephen
Dorries, Nadine
Doyle-Price, Jackie
Drax, Richard
Duddridge, James
Duncan, rh Mr Alan
Duncan Smith, rh Mr Iain
Dunne, Mr Philip
Ellis, Michael
Ellison, Jane
Ellwood, Mr Tobias
Elphicke, Charlie
Eustice, George
Evans, Graham
Evans, Mr Nigel
Evennett, Mr David
Fabricant, Michael
Fallon, rh Michael
Farron, Tim
Featherstone, Lynne
Field, Mark
Foster, rh Mr Don
Fox, rh Dr Liam
Freeman, George
Freer, Mike
Fuller, Richard
Garnier, Sir Edward
Garnier, Mark
Gauke, Mr David
George, Andrew
Gibb, Mr Nick
Gilbert, Stephen
Gillan, rh Mrs Cheryl
Glen, John
Goldsmith, Zac
Goodwill, Mr Robert
Gove, rh Michael
Grant, Mrs Helen
Gray, Mr James
Grayling, rh Chris
Green, rh Damian
Greening, rh Justine
Grieve, rh Mr Dominic
Griffiths, Andrew
Gummer, Ben
Gyimah, Mr Sam
Halfon, Robert
Hames, Duncan
Hammond, rh Mr Philip
Hammond, Stephen
Hancock, Matthew
Hancock, Mr Mike
Hands, Greg
Harper, Mr Mark
Harrington, Richard
Harris, Rebecca
Hart, Simon
Harvey, Sir Nick
Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan
Hayes, rh Mr John
Heald, Oliver
Heath, Mr David
Heaton-Harris, Chris
Hemming, John
Henderson, Gordon
Hendry, Charles
Herbert, rh Nick
Hermon, Lady
Hinds, Damian
Hoban, Mr Mark
Hollingbery, George
Hollobone, Mr Philip
Hopkins, Kris
Horwood, Martin
Howarth, Sir Gerald
Howell, John
Hughes, rh Simon
Hunter, Mark
Huppert, Dr Julian
Hurd, Mr Nick
Jackson, Mr Stewart
Javid, Sajid
Jenkin, Mr Bernard
Johnson, Gareth
Johnson, Joseph
Jones, Andrew
Jones, rh Mr David
Kawczynski, Daniel
Kelly, Chris
Kennedy, rh Mr Charles
Kirby, Simon
Knight, rh Sir Greg
Kwarteng, Kwasi
Lamb, Norman
Lancaster, Mark
Lansley, rh Mr Andrew
Latham, Pauline
Laws, rh Mr David
Leadsom, Andrea
Lee, Dr Phillip
Leech, Mr John
Lefroy, Jeremy
Leigh, Sir Edward
Leslie, Charlotte
Letwin, rh Mr Oliver
Lewis, Brandon
Lewis, Dr Julian
Liddell-Grainger, Mr Ian
Lilley, rh Mr Peter
Lloyd, Stephen
Lopresti, Jack
Loughton, Tim
Luff, Peter
Macleod, Mary
Main, Mrs Anne
Maude, rh Mr Francis
Maynard, Paul
McCartney, Jason
McCartney, Karl
McIntosh, Miss Anne
McLoughlin, rh Mr Patrick
McPartland, Stephen
McVey, Esther
Menzies, Mark
Metcalfe, Stephen
Mills, Nigel
Milton, Anne
Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew
Moore, rh Michael
Morgan, Nicky
Morris, Anne Marie
Morris, David
Morris, James
Mosley, Stephen
Mowat, David
Mulholland, Greg
Mundell, rh David
Munt, Tessa
Murray, Sheryll
Murrison, Dr Andrew
Neill, Robert
Newmark, Mr Brooks
Newton, Sarah
Nokes, Caroline
Norman, Jesse
Nuttall, Mr David
O'Brien, rh Mr Stephen
Offord, Dr Matthew
Ollerenshaw, Eric
Opperman, Guy
Osborne, rh Mr George
Ottaway, rh Richard
Paice, rh Sir James
Parish, Neil
Patel, Priti
Pawsey, Mark
Penning, Mike
Penrose, John
Percy, Andrew
Perry, Claire
Phillips, Stephen
Pincher, Christopher
Poulter, Dr Daniel
Prisk, Mr Mark
Pritchard, Mark
Pugh, John
Raab, Mr Dominic
Randall, rh Sir John
Redwood, rh Mr John
Rees-Mogg, Jacob
Reevell, Simon
Reid, Mr Alan
Rifkind, rh Sir Malcolm
Robathan, rh Mr Andrew
Robertson, rh Hugh
Robertson, Mr Laurence
Rogerson, Dan
Rosindell, Andrew
Rudd, Amber
Ruffley, Mr David
Russell, Sir Bob
Rutley, David
Sandys, Laura
Scott, Mr Lee
Selous, Andrew
Shannon, Jim
Shapps, rh Grant
Sharma, Alok
Sheerman, Mr Barry
Shelbrooke, Alec
Simmonds, Mark
Simpson, David
Skidmore, Chris
Smith, Chloe
Smith, Henry
Smith, Julian
Smith, Sir Robert
Soames, rh Nicholas
Soubry, Anna
Spelman, rh Mrs Caroline
Spencer, Mr Mark
Stanley, rh Sir John
Stephenson, Andrew
Stevenson, John
Stewart, Bob
Stewart, Iain
Stewart, Rory
Streeter, Mr Gary
Stride, Mel
Stuart, Mr Graham
Stunell, rh Sir Andrew
Sturdy, Julian
Swales, Ian
Swayne, rh Mr Desmond
Swinson, Jo
Syms, Mr Robert
Tapsell, rh Sir Peter
Teather, Sarah
Thornton, Mike
Thurso, John
Timpson, Mr Edward
Tomlinson, Justin
Tredinnick, David
Truss, Elizabeth
Turner, Mr Andrew
Tyrie, Mr Andrew
Uppal, Paul
Vaizey, Mr Edward
Vara, Mr Shailesh
Vickers, Martin
Villiers, rh Mrs Theresa
Walker, Mr Charles
Walker, Mr Robin
Wallace, Mr Ben
Walter, Mr Robert
Ward, Mr David
Watkinson, Dame Angela
Weatherley, Mike
Webb, Steve
Wharton, James
Wheeler, Heather
White, Chris
Whittaker, Craig
Whittingdale, Mr John
Wiggin, Bill
Williams, Hywel
Williams, Mr Mark
Williams, Roger
Williams, Stephen
Williamson, Gavin
Willott, Jenny
Wilson, Mr Rob
Wilson, Sammy
Wollaston, Dr Sarah
Wright, Jeremy
Wright, Simon
Yeo, Mr Tim
Young, rh Sir George
NOES
Abbott, Ms Diane
Allen, Mr Graham
Anderson, Mr David
Betts, Mr Clive
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Caton, Martin
Clark, Katy
Cooper, Rosie
Corbyn, Jeremy
Crausby, Mr David
Cryer, John
Cunningham, Mr Jim
Davidson, Mr Ian
Davies, Geraint
Dobbin, Jim
Dobson, rh Frank
Durkan, Mark
Edwards, Jonathan
Engel, Natascha
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flello, Robert
Flynn, Paul
Francis, Dr Hywel
Godsiff, Mr Roger
Havard, Mr Dai
Hoey, Kate
Hopkins, Kelvin
Hosie, Stewart
Howarth, rh Mr George
Kaufman, rh Sir Gerald
Lavery, Ian
Lazarowicz, Mark
Llwyd, rh Mr Elfyn
Love, Mr Andrew
Lucas, Caroline
Mahmood, Mr Khalid
McDonnell, Dr Alasdair
McDonnell, John
McGovern, Jim
McKechin, Ann
Mearns, Ian
Moon, Mrs Madeleine
Morris, Grahame M.
(Easington)
Mudie, Mr George
Murphy, rh Paul
Ritchie, Ms Margaret
Robertson, Angus
Shepherd, Sir Richard
Sheridan, Jim
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Stringer, Graham
Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry
Twigg, Derek
Vaz, Valerie
Watson, Mr Tom
Weir, Mr Mike
Whiteford, Dr Eilidh
Winnick, Mr David
Wishart, Pete
Wood, Mike
Question accordingly agreed to.
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1058
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1059
4 Dec 2013 : Column 1060
Betting, Gaming and Lotteries
That the draft Categories of Gaming Machine (Amendment) Regulations 2014, which were laid before this House on 15 October, be approved.
The House divided:
Ayes 322, Noes 231.
Division No. 149]
AYES
Adams, Nigel
Afriyie, Adam
Aldous, Peter
Alexander, rh Danny
Amess, Mr David
Andrew, Stuart
Arbuthnot, rh Mr James
Bacon, Mr Richard
Baker, Norman
Baker, Steve
Baldry, Sir Tony
Baldwin, Harriett
Barclay, Stephen
Barker, rh Gregory
Baron, Mr John
Barwell, Gavin
Beith, rh Sir Alan
Bellingham, Mr Henry
Benyon, Richard
Beresford, Sir Paul
Berry, Jake
Bingham, Andrew
Birtwistle, Gordon
Blackman, Bob
Blackwood, Nicola
Blunt, Mr Crispin
Boles, Nick
Bone, Mr Peter
Bradley, Karen
Brady, Mr Graham
Brake, rh Tom
Bray, Angie
Brazier, Mr Julian
Bridgen, Andrew
Brine, Steve
Brooke, Annette
Browne, Mr Jeremy
Bruce, Fiona
Bruce, rh Sir Malcolm
Buckland, Mr Robert
Burley, Mr Aidan
Burns, Conor
Burns, rh Mr Simon
Burrowes, Mr David
Burstow, rh Paul
Burt, rh Alistair
Burt, Lorely
Byles, Dan
Cable, rh Vince
Cairns, Alun
Campbell, rh Sir Menzies
Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair
Carmichael, Neil
Carswell, Mr Douglas
Cash, Mr William
Chishti, Rehman
Clark, rh Greg
Clarke, rh Mr Kenneth
Clegg, rh Mr Nick
Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey
Coffey, Dr Thérèse
Collins, Damian
Colvile, Oliver
Crabb, Stephen
Crockart, Mike
Crouch, Tracey
Davey, rh Mr Edward
Davies, David T. C.
(Monmouth)
Davies, Glyn
Davies, Philip
Dinenage, Caroline
Dorrell, rh Mr Stephen
Dorries, Nadine
Doyle-Price, Jackie
Drax, Richard
Duddridge, James
Duncan, rh Mr Alan
Duncan Smith, rh Mr Iain
Dunne, Mr Philip
Ellis, Michael
Ellison, Jane
Ellwood, Mr Tobias
Elphicke, Charlie
Eustice, George
Evans, Graham
Evans, Mr Nigel
Evennett, Mr David
Fabricant, Michael
Fallon, rh Michael
Farron, Tim
Featherstone, Lynne
Field, Mark
Foster, rh Mr Don
Fox, rh Dr Liam
Freeman, George
Freer, Mike
Garnier, Sir Edward
Garnier, Mark
Gauke, Mr David
George, Andrew
Gibb, Mr Nick
Gilbert, Stephen
Gillan, rh Mrs Cheryl
Glen, John
Goodwill, Mr Robert
Gove, rh Michael
Grant, Mrs Helen
Grayling, rh Chris
Green, rh Damian
Greening, rh Justine
Grieve, rh Mr Dominic
Griffiths, Andrew
Gummer, Ben
Gyimah, Mr Sam
Halfon, Robert
Hames, Duncan
Hammond, rh Mr Philip
Hammond, Stephen
Hancock, Matthew
Hancock, Mr Mike
Hands, Greg
Harper, Mr Mark
Harrington, Richard
Harris, Rebecca
Hart, Simon
Harvey, Sir Nick
Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan
Hayes, rh Mr John
Heald, Oliver
Heath, Mr David
Heaton-Harris, Chris
Hemming, John
Henderson, Gordon
Hendry, Charles
Herbert, rh Nick
Hinds, Damian
Hoban, Mr Mark
Hollingbery, George
Hollobone, Mr Philip
Hopkins, Kris
Horwood, Martin
Howarth, Sir Gerald
Howell, John
Hughes, rh Simon
Hunter, Mark
Huppert, Dr Julian
Hurd, Mr Nick
Javid, Sajid
Jenkin, Mr Bernard
Johnson, Gareth
Johnson, Joseph
Jones, Andrew
Jones, rh Mr David
Kawczynski, Daniel
Kelly, Chris
Kennedy, rh Mr Charles
Kirby, Simon
Knight, rh Sir Greg
Kwarteng, Kwasi
Lamb, Norman
Lancaster, Mark
Lansley, rh Mr Andrew
Latham, Pauline
Laws, rh Mr David
Leadsom, Andrea
Lee, Dr Phillip
Leech, Mr John
Lefroy, Jeremy
Leigh, Sir Edward
Leslie, Charlotte
Letwin, rh Mr Oliver
Lewis, Brandon
Lewis, Dr Julian
Liddell-Grainger, Mr Ian
Lilley, rh Mr Peter
Lloyd, Stephen
Lopresti, Jack
Luff, Peter
Macleod, Mary
Main, Mrs Anne
Maude, rh Mr Francis
Maynard, Paul
McCartney, Jason
McCartney, Karl
McIntosh, Miss Anne
McLoughlin, rh Mr Patrick
McPartland, Stephen
McVey, Esther
Menzies, Mark
Metcalfe, Stephen
Mills, Nigel
Milton, Anne
Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew
Moore, rh Michael
Morgan, Nicky
Morris, Anne Marie
Morris, David
Morris, James
Mosley, Stephen
Mowat, David
Mulholland, Greg
Mundell, rh David
Munt, Tessa
Murray, Sheryll
Murrison, Dr Andrew
Neill, Robert
Newmark, Mr Brooks
Newton, Sarah
Nokes, Caroline
Norman, Jesse
Nuttall, Mr David
O'Brien, rh Mr Stephen
Offord, Dr Matthew
Ollerenshaw, Eric
Onwurah, Chi
Opperman, Guy
Osborne, rh Mr George
Ottaway, rh Richard
Paice, rh Sir James
Parish, Neil
Patel, Priti
Pawsey, Mark
Penning, Mike
Penrose, John
Percy, Andrew
Perry, Claire
Phillips, Stephen
Pincher, Christopher
Poulter, Dr Daniel
Prisk, Mr Mark
Pritchard, Mark
Pugh, John
Raab, Mr Dominic
Randall, rh Sir John
Reckless, Mark
Redwood, rh Mr John
Rees-Mogg, Jacob
Reevell, Simon
Reid, Mr Alan
Rifkind, rh Sir Malcolm
Robathan, rh Mr Andrew
Robertson, rh Hugh
Robertson, Mr Laurence
Rogerson, Dan
Rosindell, Andrew
Rudd, Amber
Ruffley, Mr David
Russell, Sir Bob
Rutley, David
Sandys, Laura
Scott, Mr Lee
Selous, Andrew
Shapps, rh Grant
Sharma, Alok
Shelbrooke, Alec
Shepherd, Sir Richard
Simmonds, Mark
Skidmore, Chris
Smith, Chloe
Smith, Henry
Smith, Julian
Smith, Sir Robert
Soames, rh Nicholas
Soubry, Anna
Spelman, rh Mrs Caroline
Spencer, Mr Mark
Stanley, rh Sir John
Stephenson, Andrew
Stevenson, John
Stewart, Bob
Stewart, Iain
Stewart, Rory
Streeter, Mr Gary
Stride, Mel
Stuart, Mr Graham
Stunell, rh Sir Andrew
Sturdy, Julian
Swales, Ian
Swayne, rh Mr Desmond
Swinson, Jo
Syms, Mr Robert
Tapsell, rh Sir Peter
Teather, Sarah
Thornton, Mike
Thurso, John
Timpson, Mr Edward
Tomlinson, Justin
Tredinnick, David
Truss, Elizabeth
Turner, Mr Andrew
Tyrie, Mr Andrew
Uppal, Paul
Vaizey, Mr Edward
Vara, Mr Shailesh
Vickers, Martin
Villiers, rh Mrs Theresa
Walker, Mr Robin
Wallace, Mr Ben
Walter, Mr Robert
Ward, Mr David
Watkinson, Dame Angela
Watson, Mr Tom
Weatherley, Mike
Webb, Steve
Wharton, James
Wheeler, Heather
White, Chris
Whittaker, Craig
Whittingdale, Mr John
Wiggin, Bill
Williams, Hywel
Williams, Mr Mark
Williams, Roger
Williams, Stephen
Williamson, Gavin
Willott, Jenny
Wilson, Mr Rob
Wollaston, Dr Sarah
Wright, Jeremy
Wright, Simon
Yeo, Mr Tim
Young, rh Sir George
NOES
Abbott, Ms Diane
Abrahams, Debbie
Ainsworth, rh Mr Bob
Alexander, rh Mr Douglas
Alexander, Heidi
Ali, Rushanara
Allen, Mr Graham
Anderson, Mr David
Ashworth, Jonathan
Austin, Ian
Bain, Mr William
Balls, rh Ed
Banks, Gordon
Beckett, rh Margaret
Begg, Dame Anne
Benn, rh Hilary
Benton, Mr Joe
Berger, Luciana
Betts, Mr Clive
Blackman-Woods, Roberta
Blenkinsop, Tom
Blomfield, Paul
Blunkett, rh Mr David
Bottomley, Sir Peter
Bradshaw, rh Mr Ben
Brennan, Kevin
Brown, Lyn
Brown, rh Mr Nicholas
Brown, Mr Russell
Bryant, Chris
Buck, Ms Karen
Burden, Richard
Burnham, rh Andy
Campbell, Mr Alan
Campbell, Mr Gregory
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Caton, Martin
Champion, Sarah
Chapman, Jenny
Clark, Katy
Clarke, rh Mr Tom
Clwyd, rh Ann
Coffey, Ann
Cooper, Rosie
Cooper, rh Yvette
Corbyn, Jeremy
Crausby, Mr David
Creagh, Mary
Creasy, Stella
Cryer, John
Cunningham, Alex
Cunningham, Mr Jim
Cunningham, Sir Tony
Curran, Margaret
Dakin, Nic
Danczuk, Simon
Darling, rh Mr Alistair
David, Wayne
Davidson, Mr Ian
Davies, Geraint
De Piero, Gloria
Denham, rh Mr John
Dobbin, Jim
Dobson, rh Frank
Docherty, Thomas
Dodds, rh Mr Nigel
Donohoe, Mr Brian H.
Doran, Mr Frank
Doughty, Stephen
Dowd, Jim
Doyle, Gemma
Dromey, Jack
Dugher, Michael
Durkan, Mark
Eagle, Maria
Edwards, Jonathan
Efford, Clive
Elliott, Julie
Ellman, Mrs Louise
Engel, Natascha
Esterson, Bill
Evans, Chris
Farrelly, Paul
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flello, Robert
Flint, rh Caroline
Flynn, Paul
Fovargue, Yvonne
Francis, Dr Hywel
Gapes, Mike
Gardiner, Barry
Gilmore, Sheila
Glass, Pat
Glindon, Mrs Mary
Godsiff, Mr Roger
Goggins, rh Paul
Goldsmith, Zac
Goodman, Helen
Greatrex, Tom
Green, Kate
Greenwood, Lilian
Griffith, Nia
Gwynne, Andrew
Hain, rh Mr Peter
Hanson, rh Mr David
Harman, rh Ms Harriet
Harris, Mr Tom
Havard, Mr Dai
Hendrick, Mark
Hermon, Lady
Hillier, Meg
Hilling, Julie
Hodge, rh Margaret
Hodgson, Mrs Sharon
Hoey, Kate
Hopkins, Kelvin
Hosie, Stewart
Howarth, rh Mr George
Hunt, Tristram
Irranca-Davies, Huw
Jackson, Mr Stewart
Jamieson, Cathy
Jarvis, Dan
Johnson, rh Alan
Johnson, Diana
Jones, Graham
Jones, Susan Elan
Kaufman, rh Sir Gerald
Keeley, Barbara
Kendall, Liz
Lazarowicz, Mark
Leslie, Chris
Lewell-Buck, Mrs Emma
Llwyd, rh Mr Elfyn
Love, Mr Andrew
Lucas, Caroline
Lucas, Ian
MacNeil, Mr Angus Brendan
Mactaggart, Fiona
Mahmood, Shabana
Malhotra, Seema
Mann, John
Marsden, Mr Gordon
McCabe, Steve
McCarthy, Kerry
McClymont, Gregg
McCrea, Dr William
McDonald, Andy
McDonnell, Dr Alasdair
McDonnell, John
McFadden, rh Mr Pat
McGovern, Alison
McGovern, Jim
McKechin, Ann
McKenzie, Mr Iain
McKinnell, Catherine
Mearns, Ian
Miliband, rh Edward
Miller, Andrew
Moon, Mrs Madeleine
Morden, Jessica
Morrice, Graeme
(Livingston)
Mudie, Mr George
Munn, Meg
Murray, Ian
Nandy, Lisa
Nash, Pamela
O'Donnell, Fiona
Owen, Albert
Pearce, Teresa
Perkins, Toby
Phillipson, Bridget
Pound, Stephen
Powell, Lucy
Qureshi, Yasmin
Raynsford, rh Mr Nick
Reed, Mr Jamie
Reed, Mr Steve
Reeves, Rachel
Reynolds, Emma
Reynolds, Jonathan
Ritchie, Ms Margaret
Robertson, Angus
Robertson, John
Robinson, Mr Geoffrey
Rotheram, Steve
Roy, Mr Frank
Roy, Lindsay
Ruane, Chris
Ruddock, rh Dame Joan
Sarwar, Anas
Sawford, Andy
Seabeck, Alison
Shannon, Jim
Sharma, Mr Virendra
Sheerman, Mr Barry
Sheridan, Jim
Shuker, Gavin
Simpson, David
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Slaughter, Mr Andy
Smith, Angela
Smith, Nick
Smith, Owen
Spellar, rh Mr John
Straw, rh Mr Jack
Stringer, Graham
Stuart, Ms Gisela
Tami, Mark
Thornberry, Emily
Timms, rh Stephen
Trickett, Jon
Turner, Karl
Twigg, Derek
Twigg, Stephen
Umunna, Mr Chuka
Vaz, Valerie
Walker, Mr Charles
Walley, Joan
Watts, Mr Dave
Weir, Mr Mike
Whiteford, Dr Eilidh
Whitehead, Dr Alan
Williamson, Chris
Wilson, Phil
Wilson, Sammy
Winnick, Mr David
Winterton, rh Ms Rosie
Wishart, Pete
Woodcock, John
Wright, David
Wright, Mr Iain
Question accordingly agreed to.