Queen’s Speech: Accelerate business rate appeals

The government is to push ahead with reforms to speed up business rate appeals process, it announced in yesterday’s Queen’s Speech.

As part of a new Enterprise Bill, reforms will allow the Valuation Office Agency to share more information with local government on how it reaches its ratings decisions.

The reform, on which government consulted last year, is aimed at reducing the mountain of appeals decisions faced by councils.

Simon Tivey, head of rating at consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers, told Room151: “At the moment, the VOA is limited in what it can disclose under the Commissioners of Revenue & Customs Act 2005.

“This means that many appeals are just trying to draw out the information that reveals on what basis ratings have been made.

“More information means that the number of appeals should reduce and that local authorities should be able to more accurately predict what business rates they are likely to receive.”

The Queen’s Speech also promised other reforms, including changes to Valuation Tribunal powers to consider ratepayer appeals, although details are still vague.

But some in the sector urged the government to push ahead with more radical reform of the business rates system, currently the subject of a HM Treasury review.

Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “While it is good to see that the appeals system will be scrutinised, this should not be seen as a substitute for fundamental reform that makes business rates more responsive to the wider economy.”

And Richard Harbord, former chief executive of Boston Borough Council, said: “These changes were expected but it will be interesting to see if these are the only changes to be made following two consultations.”

The proposed Enterprise Bill would also introduce a cap on exit payments made to public sector workers “to end six figure payoffs for the best paid public sector workers”, the government said.

Elsewhere in yesterday’s speech, the government announced a Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, which would grant greater funding and powers to councils “both in large cities which choose to have elected mayors and in other places”.

The Bill would extend the functions of combined authorities beyond the current statutory limitation to economic development, regeneration and transport matters.

Paul Dossett, head of local government at accountancy firm Grant Thornton, said: “The City Devolution Bill is an inspired, game changing piece of legislation.

“City devolution has the potential to enable more innovative and efficient public services, joined up and tailored to local circumstances and outcomes, and investment in local economic priorities that can support business growth.”

But he said that the government needs to think about how devolution can work for London boroughs and smaller metropolitan councils.

“It is these councils, many of which have seen some of the biggest spending cuts to date and Grant Thornton analysis shows have significant financial resilience issues, which could benefit from the innovation and joined up
services that greater flexibility or devolution could bring,” he said.

Richard Harbord said that implementing the devolution proposals was “not going to be easy”.
“The devolution proposals would seem to be leading to two speed authorities. It will be interesting to see how bureaucratic devolution becomes. In addition, counties and districts, although covered by Growth Initiatives, will be very concerned that they will be left behind.  The resource pot is finite – give to one area and others will suffer.”

Another Tory manifesto proposal included in the Queen’s Speech sees proposals to extend the Right to Buy to housing association tenants by forcing councils to sell high value properties contained in a new Housing Bill.

Keith House, LGA Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson said: “Extending the Right to Buy for Housing Associations will cost billions – money which could be far better spent on building truly affordable housing that Britain needs.”