Rating (Empty Properties) Bill

I would have to come to a judgment on that. The flexibility exists for local authorities to go further in respect of the amount of the exempted rate, but the problem would then be the same as the one that our predecessors faced in 1988—that the overall tax take has to be considered at some point in time. The hon. Member for Poole chided me for the alleged lack of consultation on the Bill. It is, of course, a finance measure that has developed out of the Budget and I would argue that consultation took place through the Barker and Lyons reviews. The regulations will also be consulted on, but this is a finance measure being dealt with, after consulting the House authorities, through a Bill to be considered by a Committee of the whole House, rather than through a Finance Bill Committee. This is a matter of local government finance. I hope that I have given adequate time—I certainly had until today—to debate the Bill. I felt that the consultation that flows from it on account of it being a finance measure would be better done this way. The right hon. Member for East Yorkshire raises a reasonable point, but it is a question of balance. I have to do what anyone in my position has to do, which is to protect business rate payers from too many exemptions. One can envisage circumstances in which many organisations could argue for exemption—the agriculture industry did so successfully, for example, and there may be others—so it is a question of balance. He raises a reasonable point, but I disagree with it. I hope that I have explained the logic of our opposition to the amendment. I genuinely believe that it achieves the opposite of what it intends. I studied the amendment carefully and saw that that was the case. I hope that our debate on the exemptions does not cloud the fact that this Bill is about the time period for the exemptions for empty property rates, not about the exemptions themselves. On that basis, I hope that the hon. Member for Poole will withdraw the amendment.