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Planning-gain Supplement (Preparations) Bill

This short, one-page, three-clause Bill is intended simply to ensure the propriety of Government expenditure and that it is in accordance with Government accounting rules; it does no less and no more than that. Although I understand the interest that all hon. Members feel in the points that they have raised, they are precisely the points that were picked up in the thorough inquiry that the Select Committee on Communities and Local Government conducted on the policy area. They are precisely the points covered in the general consultation that we undertook in December 2005, and in the three further specific technical consultations that we undertook alongside the pre-Budget report in December 2006. None of the points and questions raised by the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) relates to this paving Bill. He and others asked about the proportion and distribution of funds, and he and my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mark Lazarowicz) asked about the operation of section 75 agreements, alongside a planning gain supplement. The hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) was concerned about the contraction of section 106, and the right hon. Members for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) and for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) were concerned about the rate of the planning gain supplement. There were also questions about the operation of the Barnett formula in respect of any revenues relating to the planning gain supplement. Those are all matters for the substantive legislation that would be required if we decided to proceed with introducing a planning gain supplement; that would be the time properly to examine the concerns that my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith urged us to ensure are debated.