Issue - meetings

To receive the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets

            RESOLVED

(i)         That the principles on which the Council would deliver the discretionary rate relief scheme be approved as reported.

(ii)        That the application of the scheme and resulting awards of discretionary relief be delegated to the Director of Corporate Resources in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets.

REASON

The scheme will assist businesses occupying lower value properties that are facing rising rates bills as a result of the 2017 revaluation.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets reported that, in the Spring 2017 Budget, the Government had announced the establishment of a £300 million discretionary rate relief fund to support those businesses that faced the steepest increases in their business rates bills as a result of the 2017 revaluation.

Calculated under a national formula, the Council had been allocated a grant of £789,350 by the Government from this fund over four years, designed to taper off over the period.

The Government expected each local authority to devise their own local scheme to assist businesses.  The conditions of the Government grant required authorities to provide support only to those ratepayers who faced an increase in their bills following revaluation and to provide support to ratepayers who faced the most significant increases in bills and those occupying lower value properties.  A proposed scheme had therefore been prepared which targeted smaller, local businesses with increases of 7% or more in their business rate bills.

In the event that the discretionary rate relief awarded under the qualifying criteria (7% increase in bills for those properties with a RV of between £15,000 and £150,000) did not use the entire grant allocation for 2017/18, under the delegated authority, the Director of Corporate Resources and Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets would be able to flex the criteria slightly – for example perhaps by lowering the criteria to 6.75% (and an RV of between £15,000 and £150,000). This would help meet the Council’s objective to spend as much of the available grant as possible.

The Finance and Assets Policy Development Advisory Group supported the proposed scheme.  As the precepting authority, West Sussex County Council had also been consulted, in line with the Government’s requirements, and welcomed the proposed scheme to support businesses detrimentally impacted by the revaluation of business rates.

            RESOLVED

(i)         That the principles on which the Council would deliver the discretionary rate relief scheme be approved as reported.

(ii)        That the application of the scheme and resulting awards of discretionary relief be delegated to the Director of Corporate Resources in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets.

REASON

The scheme will assist businesses occupying lower value properties that are facing rising rates bills as a result of the 2017 revaluation.