Business Rates to be devolved in England

Significant barriers to reducing rate bills at this time

27 November 2015

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In his Comprehensive Spending Review on Wednesday 25 November 2015, Chancellor George Osborne announced that local authorities in England will be allowed to keep the rates they collect from business and they will have the power to cut business rates to boost growth. By the end of the Parliament, local government will retain 100% of business rate revenues to fund local services. Business Rates have already been devolved to Wales.

Andrew West, Director of Rating said, “Councils already have discretionary power to reduce rate bills, but in my experience, they all too rarely do so. I can see significant financial barriers to councils reducing rate bills at a time of substantial cuts to public sector budgets.”

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