§ Mr. WillisI beg to move, in page 34, line 11, column 2, to leave out "7" and insert "8".
The principle that should apply to this table is that as the gross annual value increases, so should the net annual value increase, and at the same time so also should the deduction which is permissible increase. When we look at the Schedule as it is drawn up, we find that it produces an increase in the net annual value as the gross annual value increases, but at a point between £20 and £28 gross annual value it does not produce an increase in the deduction from the gross annual value to produce that increase in the net annual value.
I will use a figure to make my point. We find that for a house which has a gross annual value of £20, the deduction is £7 10s., which is rounded off at something higher, whereas for all those houses with a gross annual value between £21 and £28 the deduction is only £7. That, I think the hon. and learned Gentleman would agree, is quite unfair. It is quite unfair that a person living in a house with a £27 or £28 gross annual value should be allowed a smaller deduction than a person living in a house with a £20 gross annual value.
I am quite sure that if the Minister has done as I asked him to do in Committee, and has looked into this point, he will have been convinced that mathematically at least it is correct, and I should also have thought that from the point of view of justice also it is correct. It does affect a very large number of people, and I trust that the Amendment can be accepted.
§ Mr. T. FraserI beg to second the Amendment.
§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandThe hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Mr. Willis) is quite right; there is that deficiency or blemish in the Schedule as it stands. I have looked into the matter since he raised it in Committee, and though he does not often persuade me, he has persuaded me on this occasion, and I would advise the House to accept the Amendment.
§ Amendment agreed to.