HL Deb 08 March 1993 vol 543 cc866-7

6.13 p.m.

Viscount Goschen rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 4th February be approved [19th Report from the Joint Committee].

The noble Viscount said: My Lords, the draft order is made under the powers in Schedule 6 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988. It affects the liability for non-domestic rates of water companies which merge under the provision in the Water Industry Act 1991 and whose property is assessed according to prescribed rules—sometimes known as formula rating.

The draft order provides that, subject to two small points which I shall explain, statutory water companies which merge shall have their rateable values aggregated. Each water company is a monopoly in its area, so it is fair and reasonable to regard the value of the parts of the property as unchanged in the event of a merger. The two small adjustments are, first, to the annual updating factor: this is changed to ignore bulk transfers of water between the companies concerned before they merged; and, secondly, that any entitlement transitional phasing is removed when a merger takes place.

We have consulted the water industry and North East Water about the proposals in the order. The draft was agreed without amendment. I beg to move.

Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 4th February be approved [19th Report from the Joint Committee]. —(Viscount Goschen.)

Baroness Hollis of Heigham

My, Lords, we on this side have no objection to the order.

On Question, Motion agreed to.