Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) that proposed amendments to the Discretionary Rate Relief Policy for business rated properties in Coventry.

In April 2017 a national revaluation of business rates properties came into effect. Ratepayers who experienced increased bills as a result of the revaluation were supported by a national scheme of transitional relief which phased the increased liability over a period of five years.

For the 2017 revaluation, the Government had announced additional support, beyond the national transitional scheme, for pubs, local newspapers, small businesses and rural businesses.

In addition, the Government had provided additional funding for Councils to set up their own schemes of discretionary support for businesses impacted by the revaluation, to be known as ‘local discretionary relief schemes’ (LDRSs).

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had stipulated that all of the additional support would be administered through section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. Section 47 governed the use, by Councils, of discretionary reductions in business rates liability. The DCLG did not intend to introduce new legislation to facilitate the additional revaluation support and therefore Local Authorities (LAs) wishing to implement the new schemes were required to amend their existing discretionary rate relief (DRR) policies.

The parameters governing the new support for rural businesses, local newpapers, pubs and small businesses were prescribed by DCLG and it was proposed that the Council administered these schemes in line with the criteria laid out. The DCLG had not provided any guidance on how LDRSs should operateand LAs were free to design their own schemes of support.

Coventry proposed a scheme of support based on the following principles:

·  Support was provided to businesses occupying a property with a rateable value greater than £12,000 and not more than £100,000;

·  The business should have an increased liability, after all other reliefs, including small business and pub relief, greater than 1 per cent as a result of the 2017 revaluation;

·  The property was occupied;

·  The following types of business were excluded from support:

o  Coventry City Council buildings

o  Buildings occupied by NHS bodies

o  GP surgeries and health centres

o  National and international companies

o  Banks

o  Betting shops

·  Eligible businesses would receive a reduction in their bill in year 1 of the scheme totalling 100 per cent of their increased liability.

The proposed policy was set out in an appendix to the report.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member:

(1)  Approves the amended Discretionary Relief Policy included in Appendix 1 to the report.

(2)  Delegates authority to the Director of Finance and Corporate Services to approve the specific parameters and percentage thresholds of the final scheme.

(3)  Delegates authority to the Director of Finance and Corporate Services to review and adjust the scheme, following consultation with the Cabinet Member Strategic Finance and Resources, in the first and subsequent years in response to fluctuations in forecast levels of spend against the funding.

(4)  Delegates authority to officers to make decisions in respect of reliefs provided in accordance with section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988.