---

Rating (Empty Properties) Bill

The hon. Lady makes a serious point. In other circumstances, I have expressed a great deal of concern about the land-banking practices of supermarkets. They acquire property and do not use it until such time as they are ready, perhaps to keep competitors out of the market. The Minister might say that the Bill represents a tax on such land banks, but if land bankers can afford to pay that tax easily, it is of no real concern to them. It may be of benefit to the Exchequer, but it is not of benefit to the local economy, which is the argument that the Minister seeks to advance in favour of the legislation. I do not see it necessarily in that way. What is the true purpose of the Bill? Is it, as the hon. Member for Surrey Heath suggested, simply a revenue-raising measure dressed up as a measure designed to promote regeneration? If it was a measure designed to promote regeneration, I would have hoped that we would see the Government bring forward a revenue-neutral set of proposals that took more money from empty properties—there is no doubt in my mind that the system for taxation of empty property is in some need of reform; the question is whether this is the right reform—and used it for the regeneration of local economies in the manner suggested by the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Joan Walley) in the form of other reliefs. However, as the explanatory notes make clear, the Government expect net additional revenue to the Exchequer of £950 million in the first year and £900 million in the second year and, presumably, further net revenue thereafter.