Planning minister Lord Rooker (pictured) has said that the government will not accept a proposed amendment to the Local Government Bill that would have tied landlords into paying for Business Improvement Districts (BIDs).
Lord Rooker said that if the Lords pushed the amendment, the government would remove BIDs legislation from the bill entirely.
He told peers: “If there was any thought at another stage of this bill -namely, at the report stage – to press any of these amendments to a vote and the bill had to be changed, the government has made it clear that BIDs would be removed from the bill.
“That is not a threat. I am just spelling out the facts.”
The amendment, tabled by the Conservative former environment secretary Lord (Patrick) Jenkin, would have created a mechanism for local landlords to vote on whether or not to set up BIDs in a particular area.
The amendment would also have required landlords to invest in a BID if the vote goes in favour of creating one.
Under the government’s plans, occupiers will be required to pay for BIDs through a top-up on business rates, but landlords will not have to pay.
The minister told the Lords that, if the amendment was passed, the government would remove it when the bill went back to the Commons, which would slow the passage of the bill by making it “ping pong” back and forth between the two chambers.
But he added that some changes would be considered after the legislation was in place.
He said: “Having listened to the concerns of the property industry, we shall review BIDs once there is a sufficient number up and running to make sure that property owners are properly engaged in the process.
“If we find significant cause for concern, we shall look again at the BIDs mechanism to see whether changes need to be made.
“That is not a throwaway afterthought; it is part of our considered response.
He added: “We want BIDs to work; there is no question of that.
“However, there are some real practical problems with regard to property owners. We might have a political reason not to want to introduce a new tax.
“The Treasury may say: ‘No new taxes’. But even if we were to go down that route, the practical problems would be massive.”
Lord Jenkin argued that the government “greatly exaggerates” the problems that the amendment would cause.
He added that the amendment was supported by the Association of Town Centre Managers, the British Council for Offices, the British Property Federation, the British Retail Consortium, the Corporation of London, Lambeth council, Westminster council and the Local Government Association.
References: EGi News 12/06/03
