My Lords, I thank the Minister for his extensive reply. I remind him, despite the detail he provided, that I said right at the start that I support the proposals in the Bill. I just want to make two points.
First, it is amazing to me that we are unable to share information from the Valuation Office Agency about the number and monetary value of the MCC appeals that have already been put in. Surely that must form the basis of the £1.5 billion proposed by the Government. I do not know how else we can have confidence that that £1.5 billion is anywhere near sufficient. Perhaps I will pursue that elsewhere.
My second point is about the reform of business rates, which, as the Minister will have picked up by now, I am very concerned about. I understand that a proposal for more frequent assessments was made in the spending review. That is of course welcome, but it absolutely fails to address the fundamental inequalities in the system. There will be no disagreement about that; the only disagreement is about how swiftly—to use the new word which will obviously replace “at pace” —we can address those inequalities. I know it is not easy. I accept that reform of a major taxation system is not easy. However, it is absolutely necessary and overdue. The prospect of another round of consultation just tells me that the long grass approaches.
With those comments, and with thanks for the categoric assurance—which I will check, but I think the Minister gave local authorities a categoric assurance that there would be no additional administrative costs of dealing with the scheme—I beg leave to withdraw Amendment 1, and will not move Amendment 2.