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Finance Bill

Of course, my Lords, in the time allotted to me for this short closing speech, it would not be possible to mention every contribution made to the debate, let alone to answer all the points that have been raised. In the event that I do not answer a technical point or a question which requires a factual answer, I will ensure that I study Hansard and reply to the noble Baroness or noble Lord as appropriate. However, several specific issues that were raised seemed particularly pertinent and I will do my best to address them. First, the noble Lord, Lord Lang of Monkton, brought his great experience to bear in an excellent contribution to our debate. In addressing some of his points, I will refer to other Members of the House who touched on them. He reminded us of the preference for consultation. Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Newby, noted that there had been a significant increase in the amount of consultation that was taking place, and that the number of areas on which consultation had not taken place but where it was believed that it would have been possible has been declining. I would encourage that trend and wish to see it continue. However, we have no intention at this stage of delaying the implementation of the debt cap, which was a particular point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Lang, under that heading. The noble Lord, Lord Lang, also raised questions about REITs. It is quite difficult to reach a judgment on the experience of REITs after such a short period of time when the commercial real estate market has been going through such significant valuation change. I say that as a former chairman of the largest REIT in the UK—indeed, the second-largest quoted property company in Europe. However, we will take account of the representations that have been made. The noble Lord, Lord Best, asked that we remain open to representations from the British Property Federation and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and my noble friend Lord Sheldon made similar points. We certainly do not regard the REITs story as being closed. I will revert to that in a moment when I deal with some of the comments made by my noble friend Lord Best.