UK port rates on Parliamentary tightrope

Surprisingly, the amendment, which was passed by the House of Lords with a majority of around 60 votes, was rejected by the Commons after pressure by government whips and some MPs, who had originally supported the amendment, voted it down.

However, all is not yet lost, as the Bill has to be passed by both houses, or is sunk in its entirety. This includes both the main bill and its amendment, which seeks to redress an apparent injustice by making the government’s Valuation Office Agency responsible for its own mistakes.

The Business Rates Supplements Bill amendments, which were drafted by Andrew Finfer, a rating expert with Yorkshire law firm Schofield Sweeney, on behalf of the Humber Docks and Mersey Dock Rating Groups, accept the principle of no backdating without fault. Errors in rating evaluations should be borne by those responsible for the errors. There should be no backdating increase of business rates if the increase is not the fault of the business.

Solicitor Andrew Finfer explained that the amendment means ‘the cost of rectifying a business rates mistake should be borne by the person or organisation making the mistake’. In this case it would be the VOA, which suddenly started issuing three years worth of backdated bills at the end of last year, pushing many port businesses into danger of insolvency.

‘This should be a simple, clear principle’, said Mr Finfer. It may be that the Lords are aware that if the principle is compromised, ‘any UK business may suffer the same problems as the port companies at any point in the future’.

On the other side, the House of Commons will be aware that if the Lords remain resolved, then the amendment, if not passed, will sink. It will take with it the possibility of raising the necessary £3.5bn from London businesses for the Crossrail link, a project that is estimated to bring at least £36bn to the UK economy.

The bill needs to get royal assent in this parliamentary session if it isn’t to be lost, which may mean the cutting of some last minute deals by both Houses, either before the summer recess or between parliament reconvening and the end of the session in November.

But the most surprising element may still be a U-turn by some members of the Lower House. ‘We do not understand why, when all political parties voted for the amendment, some Labour MPs whose constituents will suffer from the VOA’s mistakes voted against the amendment’, concluded Andrew Finfer.