Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Bates (Conservative). It was answered by Baroness Hanham (Conservative) on Thursday, 1 July 2010.

Ports: Business Rates

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements they are making to collect backdated non-domestic rates in respect of port-side operators.

Answer: My Lords, in June, the coalition Government implemented an immediate moratorium on port operators’ backdated payments, and in the emergency Budget we announced our intention to take primary legislation at the earliest opportunity to cancel the "ports tax". The repayment scheme introduced by the previous Administration for businesses with backdated rates bills, such as those in ports, did not go far enough to address the problems facing these businesses, many of which are on the brink of insolvency.

Secondary information