Planning Bill

We are at the core of the problems that CIL throws up. We will have to finish with absolute clarity about this difficulty in the Bill; at the moment, we do not have it. First, I shall deal with my amendments in the group. Amendment No. 437 is simple. It would ensure that any development not requiring planning permission will not pay CIL. I am moderately happy that the noble Baroness has that situation well and truly covered. I am very grateful to her for that because, as the Bill was drafted, that was not clear. My other amendment, which I freely admit, as my noble friend Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, said, is not ““legally satisfactory””, was tabled deliberately to ensure that we covered absolutely the subject of this debate, which is about charities and charitable works—which, in my view, must have clear exemption expressed in the Bill. The other half of the amendment picks up the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, but in a much wider context. It states that the provision of infrastructure should not be eligible to pay CIL. It seems to be the ultimate churning of money to take money from people to provide infrastructure but make the people who provide infrastructure also to pay that charge. That is illogical in the extreme. That applies just as much to road improvements, electricity transmission—power stations have been raised by my noble friend Lord Jenkin—and all the other infrastructure that we require in a modern society. The only effect of adding CIL to those developments will be to increase the charges that the developers have to make for that infrastructure—so far, we use roads without charge, but it will come back in the form of increased excise duty on fuel, or something like that. Putting the charge on electricity generation or transmission will increase the cost to the customer. There is no escaping that. As I said earlier, my view is that the whole scheme will ultimately have an inflationary effect and increase charges generally across the board—not exactly something that I look forward to. I shall not try to repeat the arguments that everyone made on the question of charity. The case was admirably and clearly set out by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, and finished by the noble Lord, Lord Shutt of Greetland, who was absolutely right about ““charity”” being a good word. The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham said that the nature of the Bill means that the exemptions are optional. That is not satisfactory. They must be absolute, and this must be clearly stated so that people understand. Without that, the Bill is in danger of having a well deserved reputation for having an ill effect on how society develops. This applies across the board and not only to the charitable sector. The noble Lord, Lord Best, was not quite sure whether aspects of social housing were charitable. I am sure that he is right to make that point, because aspects of social housing and affordable housing are in the field of desirable infrastructure from which the whole community benefits. In my view, CIL is designed to provide a certain amount of local icing, not to affect greatly the main infrastructure provision. That is not clear in the Bill, and it must be made clear as a result of our debate. That may not happen today, but I hope that the Minister will take this matter away and think about the wording both of the Bill and of some of her amendments, which do not go sufficiently far. We need this absolute clarity for the sake and the benefit of everyone across the country.