§ Mr. Galbraithasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has received the Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Commercial Rating.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellYes. Copies are now available in the Vote Office. I am grateful to Professor Anderson and his colleagues for carrying out this important inquiry. Their Report covers a wide and complex field and will be given the most careful study. Until this has been done it would be inappropriate to express a Government view on the various recommendations made by the Committee.
There is one matter, however, on which a decision cannot be delayed. A majority of the Committee recommended that the next revaluation, scheduled for 1971, should be postponed to 1973. I have decided not to accept this recommendation. The principle of revaluing rateable property every five years is embodied in statute, and it is an important means of sustaining the effectiveness of the rating system and of providing fair treatment for the different classes of ratepayer. Preparations for the 1971 revaluation are already well in hand, and its postponement now would cause widespread inconvenience. Accordingly I do not propose to introduce legislation to postpone it.