Speeches by Simmonds.

“This group revolves around amendments 14, 17 and 20 and includes consequential amendments on relevant language in further paragraphs. They aim to address an issue that has been raised extensively in public evidence sessions, written evidence submitted to the Committee and the wider debate about measures in the Bill. Th…”

“The Minister and I had the joy of parallel careers in local government for many years. I cannot imagine he spent a great deal of that time looking forward to the opportunity to explain non-domestic business rate multipliers in a Bill Committee. However, as he acknowledged, it is important to ensure that there is a suff…”

“It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Siobhain. We have tabled a number of amendments to this legislation, but I want to be clear from the outset that we are not proposing to press them to a vote. We hope to have a response from the Minister; in many cases, that will follow up on the evide…”

“I beg to move amendment 13, in clause 1, page 2, line 5, at end insert— “(1A) Regulations under sub-paragraph (1)(a) must provide discretion for billing authorities with regard to the application of the higher multiplier.””

“I beg to move amendment 9, in clause 5, page 5, line 38, at end insert— “(5A) Where a private school offers nursery provision, that school must be considered to be comprised of two separate hereditaments, one of which would be a nursery school.” The question of hereditaments is certainly not one that I remember from En…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. You will be relieved, Dame Siobhain, to hear that these are the last of the amendments and new clauses that I will move for debate. The purpose of the new clause is to bring in a measure to support the local retention of additional receipts that come from the measur…”

“I am sure that most mums and dads will be glad that excellent education is already available in England’s schools, given the transformation that has taken place in standards. However, we are here to concentrate on finances. For that reason, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. C…”

“I will be brief, because we touched on this matter in the evidence sessions yesterday. The amendment and new clause both seek to ensure that the measures contained in the Bill have a review mechanism and impact assessments. The Minister said earlier that he was minded to proceed, regardless of the outcome, but there wi…”

“I beg to move amendment 11, in clause 6, page 6, line 20, at end insert “, provided that the condition in section [Requirement for the Government to commission an independent review on the impact of the 2026 revaluation of hereditaments on provisions of this Act] is met.” This amendment provides that the provisions of …”

“Clearly, the Government have set out their direction of travel and they are determined to proceed. It is important to acknowledge, given the rationale around diverting funds to the state sector, that our state schools, by all significant measures, are now the highest performing that they have ever been. Although I woul…”

“As always, it has been a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dame Siobhain. In that Christmas spirit, I thank the Minister for his constructive engagement. It is characteristic of several of the Ministers in the Department, and it has been enormously helpful. I put on record my thanks to the Whips; I appreciate th…”

“Once again, I recognise that the Government have the numbers to do as they wish, but I am concerned by what the Minister has outlined. This is not simply an amendment about nursery schools, which are a specific thing. It is about nurseries, which provide childcare. For younger children we have the early years foundatio…”

“I beg to move amendment 14, in clause 3, page 3, line 25, after “more,” insert— “and is not a retail premises which is open to customers for more than 18 hours a day”. This amendment would exempt retail premises which are open to customers for more than 18 hours a day from having the higher multiplier used to calculate…”

“I have no objection to these measures. Could the Minister confirm, in writing if that is more convenient, that there has been a degree of consultation with the corporation to establish what, if any, impact it would expect on its budget?”

“I am pleased to hear the Minister once again championing the value of local discretion in decision making; I think we mutually acknowledge that it is incredibly important. I am aware that concern remains, particularly in the SEND sector and especially for residential special schools, about how the change will play out.…”

“I know that the Minister is a localist at heart and will generally support measures that increase autonomy and decision making at local level. I recognise that the Government have the numbers to reject the measure. I think the point that it is hard to model the outcome was addressed in previous amendments that the Gove…”

“I need to be clear that I am not here to act as an advocate for faith education; I am not personally a fan of it. I recognise the Minister’s point, but we need to acknowledge that many Members on both sides of the House, and many of our constituents, believe very strongly that they should be able to access a school of …”

“I beg to move amendment 8, in clause 5, page 5, line 38, at end insert “, or (b) has a religious character or other special character and there is no maintained school or academy of the same character within the specified distance from that school. (5A) In sub-paragraph (5)(b)— (a) ‘religious character’ has the meaning…”

“Q May I ask specifically what your view is on small business rate relief? Edward Woodall: Small business rate relief is incredibly important for our membership as it helps the very smallest businesses to get relief. It also has some very specific features. It is automatically applied, and there are tapers between £12,0…”

“Q Thank you very much indeed, Dr Huq. I know that we are going to have ample opportunity to develop the debate about the relevant clause in the Bill tomorrow, but a lot of the amendments are about whether impact assessments will be carried out or not, and how that would inform our decision making. Could you set out the…”