Business Rates Revaluation Support – a new discretionary rate relief scheme

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This consultation has now closed.

Overview

Barnet Council is responsible for collecting Business Rates which are then shared between the council, the Government, and The Greater London Authority. Business Rates are based on the valuation of the property as set by the Valuation Office Agency. The latest revaluation was conducted in 2015, coming into effect on 1 April 2017. The previous revaluation was carried out in 2010. Some businesses have seen sharp increases as a result. Revaluation Support is a new discretionary rate relief funded by central government grant (£2.3m over four years) that may be used to allocate to businesses hardest hit by the effect of the 2017 revaluation.

A local policy, relevant to the London Borough of Barnet is required to be agreed, to fairly distribute the grant.

The draft scheme sets out how the £2.3m will be distributed over the next four years. It includes details of which types of business would be eligible and those which are excluded, along with other qualifying criteria. The amount of relief is then phased over the subsequent years, with an amount reserved for supporting exceptional cases.

You can read the Draft Revaluation Support Scheme in full here.

Why we are consulting

The draft scheme sets out the eligibility criteria required for processing applications for revaluation support and this consultation will allow the council to grant discretionary support to those hardest hit by the revaluation.

We want to give everyone the chance to give their views on the revised scheme before a final decision is made.

Give us your views

Your views and opinions are important to us and will help us to make the right decisions. Please take the time to read the draft scheme and complete our short online questionnaire.

For enquiries about your business rates, please email business.rates@barnet.gov.uk or telephone 020 8359 2735.

Overview

Barnet Council is responsible for collecting Business Rates which are then shared between the council, the Government, and The Greater London Authority. Business Rates are based on the valuation of the property as set by the Valuation Office Agency. The latest revaluation was conducted in 2015, coming into effect on 1 April 2017. The previous revaluation was carried out in 2010. Some businesses have seen sharp increases as a result. Revaluation Support is a new discretionary rate relief funded by central government grant (£2.3m over four years) that may be used to allocate to businesses hardest hit by the effect of the 2017 revaluation.

A local policy, relevant to the London Borough of Barnet is required to be agreed, to fairly distribute the grant.

The draft scheme sets out how the £2.3m will be distributed over the next four years. It includes details of which types of business would be eligible and those which are excluded, along with other qualifying criteria. The amount of relief is then phased over the subsequent years, with an amount reserved for supporting exceptional cases.

You can read the Draft Revaluation Support Scheme in full here.

Why we are consulting

The draft scheme sets out the eligibility criteria required for processing applications for revaluation support and this consultation will allow the council to grant discretionary support to those hardest hit by the revaluation.

We want to give everyone the chance to give their views on the revised scheme before a final decision is made.

Give us your views

Your views and opinions are important to us and will help us to make the right decisions. Please take the time to read the draft scheme and complete our short online questionnaire.

For enquiries about your business rates, please email business.rates@barnet.gov.uk or telephone 020 8359 2735.

This consultation has now closed.

  • We Asked, You Said, We Did

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    We asked

    We asked you for your views on the draft scheme and whether you felt that the criteria in the relief were correct.

    You said:

    Most responses were supportive recognising that there needed to be exclusions. There was some criticism that the Healthier catering Commitment requirement was prohibitive, and not in the spirit of the funding grant. The council was asked to commit to supporting small and micro businesses, and to distribute the funds as quickly as possible to alleviate any hardship. 14 comments related to the list of business types that are being supported, and whilst not on the exclusion list did not know how they would benefit – such as Sports clubs, pharmacies, dental, podiatry, education, healthcare, workshops for artisans; 7 comments were made which were statements relating to business rates generally (charities, liability, high cost, Brexit) and not subject to the consultation matter;

    We did:

    The responses received were used to amend the qualifying criteria, but the % awards remained unchanged. The list of properties included were removed, and only excluded categories were left in the scheme – this made it much clearer. A restriction to the number of properties, was changed from 3 or more to be changed to 4 or more. Where there are arrears outstanding, that this be simplified to ‘ratepayers who are in arrears and have not made an arrangement for payment with the council. Financial modelling the awards has resulted in some ratepayers receiving less than £2 per annum. It is proposed that where the award is less than £50 that the award be rounded up to £50. This added less than £3000 to the overall forecast award. Clarification of how any underspend will be allocated to businesses in revaluation hardship is also included.

    That the condition of meeting the Healthier Catering Commitment, remains in the policy, but that we have softened the requirement such that the relevant establishments demonstrate that they are working towards the accreditation. The final scheme is published on the council’s website at https://www.barnet.gov.uk/citizen-home/business/business-rates/revaluation-support-scheme.html