9 March 2010
During a debate on the business rates revaluation and the effect on rural petrol stations, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown highlights the unfairness whereby petrol stations are uniquely assessed not only on rental value but also on turnover.
Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold) (Con): I congratulate my hon. Friend on raising this very important subject. As I am sure he is aware, petrol stations are unique in that their business rates are calculated not only on the basis of rental value, but on top of that, on assessments of their turnover. That is one reason why they are facing such huge increases. Petrol stations are the only property class that I know of that is assessed in that way. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is grossly unfair? It is grossly unfair on small petrol stations, particularly in rural areas, which are closing as a result. That will mean that there is even less competition, which will mean that prices for our rural constituents will rise.
Mr. Dunne: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He has pre-empted remarks that I was going to make about the palpable lack of equity across the retail estate. It makes no sense at all that a convenience store operating on a forecourt faces a rateable value calculation based on turnover when the convenience store around the corner in the local town or village faces a rateable value calculated only on the size of the premises. The difference is acute-it can mean paying 10 times the amount in rates. I have seen evidence of that, and it is not unusual. Ministers have received letters from hon. Members on both sides of the House to draw that problem to their attention and to ask them for justification, of which, I regret to say, there is none.
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Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold) (Con): I congratulate my hon. Friend on raising this very important subject. As I am sure he is aware, petrol stations are unique in that their business rates are calculated not only on the basis of rental value, but on top of that, on assessments of their turnover. That is one reason why they are facing such huge increases. Petrol stations are the only property class that I know of that is assessed in that way. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is grossly unfair? It is grossly unfair on small petrol stations, particularly in rural areas, which are closing as a result. That will mean that there is even less competition, which will mean that prices for our rural constituents will rise.
Mr. Dunne: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. He has pre-empted remarks that I was going to make about the palpable lack of equity across the retail estate. It makes no sense at all that a convenience store operating on a forecourt faces a rateable value calculation based on turnover when the convenience store around the corner in the local town or village faces a rateable value calculated only on the size of the premises. The difference is acute-it can mean paying 10 times the amount in rates. I have seen evidence of that, and it is not unusual. Ministers have received letters from hon. Members on both sides of the House to draw that problem to their attention and to ask them for justification, of which, I regret to say, there is none.
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