government abolished empty property relief, and as excellent work done by the members for york, hampton southwest and others show this has blighted development in our towns and cities. the proposal from my colleagues that we create a long grace period before newly-completed buildings have to pay empty property rates is a sensible one, and we will introduce it next october. the previous government also planned to increase the small company's tax rate to 22%, and we have cut it to 20%. but i'd like to help small and medium-sized firms more, and i want to thank my honorable friends for their thoughts in this area. starting on the 1st of january and for the next two year, i am, therefore, going to increase by tenfold the annual investment allowance in plants and machinery. instead of, instead of 25,000 pounds worth of investment being eligible for 100% relief, 250,000 pounds worth of investment are eligible. this capital allowance will cover the total annual investment undertaken by 99% of all the business in britain. it's a huge boost to all those who run a business, who aspire to grow and expand an