Ways and Means

My hon. Friend makes a pertinent point, and I agree with her. Why does the Treasury seem to be at odds with the voluntary leasing business premises code that was produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government? That code has not yet had a chance to bed in, and it has not been given adequate time to work. I want to return to regeneration. I speak not from a rural perspective, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Salisbury, but from an urban one. My constituency has an ambitious regeneration programme for the next 15 years. It is highly dependent for jobs on logistics, warehousing and transportation. It also has pockets of considerable urban deprivation—Peterborough has three of the poorest wards in the eastern region—and there is a great need for more employment. The proposals do not provide sufficient incentive to business to be entrepreneurial and to create new businesses. I am talking not about mass-market chains but about the niche businesses needed to create new jobs and to help the area to go from strength to strength. As I mentioned earlier, the evidence of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors does not necessarily support the Minister’s argument:"““This is a repeat of the situation in the 1970s when an empty rate was introduced in the form of penal rating surcharge. However, no new lettings were created by the surcharge and it led to the deliberate vandalising of property, such as removing roofs, in order to avoid rate liability. If there had been a consultation on this topic the potential impact could have been considered.””" The message from the RICS is that there has not been appropriate consultation. I shall finish with some key questions to the Minister, and I hope that he is able to allay my concerns and answer all my hon. Friends’ questions. Is he confident that regeneration will not be affected by the change? What steps does he think it prudent to take to prevent deliberate vandalism of empty property? Will he consider the suggestion of the Federation of Small Businesses that exemptions should be put in place for firms that have made a demonstrable effort, even though it might be unsuccessful, to fill their property? Finally, why is there no recognition of the regional differences in the commercial property market across England and Wales? To conclude, the tax change will do nothing to make the property market more dynamic. It will stifle efforts to regenerate some of our most deprived areas. I fear—call me cynical—that it is a good old-fashioned tax grab. Ministers need to think hard again about whether they should proceed with the proposal.