Business rate supplements proposed

Summary

‘Business Rate Supplements: A White Paper’ (Cm. 7230) sets out the Government's proposal to introduce a power for local authorities and the Greater London Authority (GLA) to raise and retain local supplements on the national business rate.

This builds on the extensive public sector debate on reforms to business rates in England, the recommendations of the Lyons Inquiry and the commitment to consider for business rate supplements in the review of sub-national economic development and regeneration.

The Government's proposed model for business rate supplements involves four levels of protection for business:

Revenue from supplements will only be available for spending on economic development, such as infrastructure. A national upper limit of 2p in the pound will be set on the level of supplements that can be levied
To protect smaller businesses from disproportionate burdens, properties liable for business rates with a rateable value of £50,000 or less will be exempted from paying supplements
Where the supplement will support more than a third of the total cost of the project there will additionally be a full 'double-lock' ballot of businesses affected.
Revenues from the supplements will be locally raised and retained, with local decision-making on the duration of any supplement and the specific projects it should be spent on. Only the highest tier local authority in any area should be entitled to levy supplements. These authorities will be able to raise supplements for projects, within the existing statutory framework.

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