---

Planning-gain Supplement (Preparations) Bill

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. The new clause is designed to delay the Bill’s implementation until the proposed operation of the planning-gain supplement in Scotland has been jointly evaluated in a study by the Treasury and the Scottish Executive. Part of the reason behind the new clause is that although the Government have provided some detail about the operation of the proposed planning-gain supplement in England, they have given little detail about its operation in Scotland or, for that matter, in Wales. Ministers have given at least indicative figures for England showing that when PGS is collected, some 70 per cent. would be returned to the local authority that was asked to accept the development in question, while the remaining 30 per cent. would be redistributed to the region. It is important to note that when I pressed the Financial Secretary about that on Second Reading on 15 January, he conceded that it could mean a different region, so that the 30 per cent. regional component could be spent in another part of the country. However, we do not even have that amount of assurance about the operation of the planning-gain supplement in Scotland. The Government’s policy is that the funds raised by the PGS will be collected by the Treasury, recycled to the Scottish Executive and redistributed by them in Scotland. There is therefore no guarantee that a community in Scotland that is being asked to accept large-scale development will receive any reciprocal benefit.