Issue - meetings

Further to Minute 52 (17 October 2017), the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment reported on a proposed increase to the rate of relief applied under the 2017/18 Local Discretionary Business Rate Relief Scheme, together with arrangements for 2018/19 to 2020/21.

The Cabinet Member advised that in order to fully utilise the grant funding allocation for 2017/18 and support local businesses impacted by the Government’s revaluation of business rates which came into effect on 1 April 2017, it was intended to increase the level of rate relief from 5% to 8.5% in the current financial year. 

The arrangements for 2018/19 would mirror those for 2017/18, albeit that the rate of relief would reduce to 3.5% to reflect the reduced grant funding allocation from the Government.  It was further noted that the same principles would apply to the arrangements for 2019/20 and 2020/21, with the Chief Operating Officer making the final determination based on the relevant charges and grant funding available at the time.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Approve an increase in the rate of relief applied under the 2017/18 Local Discretionary Business Rate Relief Scheme from 5% to 8.5% to ensure that the grant funding is fully utilised to the benefit of local businesses in the current financial year;

(ii)  Approve the Local Discretionary Business Rate Relief Scheme for 2018/19, as set out at Appendix A to the report; and

(iii)  Authorise the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment, to finalise the Local Discretionary Business Rate Relief Schemes for 2019/20 and 2020/21, including determining the rate of relief to be applied, in line with the principles within the current policy.