1 / 14

Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates An Opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates An Opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?. Society of Local Councils Clerks Larger Councils Network Meeting, Swanley – 15 th September 2011. Inform and Coordinate. Info 4 Local

newton
Download Presentation

Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates An Opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Responding to Government ConsultationsBusiness RatesAn Opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion? Society of Local Councils Clerks Larger Councils Network Meeting, Swanley – 15th September 2011

  2. Inform and Coordinate Info 4 Local SLCC External Affairs Officer, Sam Shippen PILCMslcceao@sky.com  01323 894870 Branch Meetings NALC Head of Policy & Development, Justin Griggsjustin.griggs@nalc.gov.uk020 7290 0317 Policy & Development Manager (Larger Councils), Chris Borgchris.borg@nalc.gov.uk020 7290 0741 County Associations Local Associations Information Services (LAIS) Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  3. Info 4 Local • Consultations ending soon • Transforming Regulatory Enforcement: Discussion paperDepartment for Business, Innovation and Skills Deadline: 15 September 2011 • Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) Reform ConsultationDepartment for Transport Deadline: 15 September 2011 • The Future of the Local Better Regulation Office and the Extension of the Primary Authority SchemeDepartment for Business, Innovation and Skills Deadline: 15 September 2011 • Consultation on the City of Liverpool Cruise Terminal Plans Department for Transport Deadline: 15 September 2011 • Work Capability Assessment: Year two call for evidenceDepartment for Work and Pensions Deadline: 16 September 2011 • Integrating the Operation of Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions: A call for evidenceHM Treasury Deadline: 19 September 2011 • http://www.info4local.gov.uk/http://youtu.be/spuVrU-LbHQ Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  4. SLCC External Affairs. Members section of the web site. Example – Data Transparency. Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  5. NALC P31-11Natural White Paper Response Sept-2011 P25-11Land and Society Commission Report Jul-2011 P24-11Relaxation of Planning Rules Jul-2011 P23-11Planning for Traveller Sites Jul-2011 P19-11Future of Public Audit Consultation Response by Peter Lacey Jul-2011 P18-11Waterways Response Jun-2011 P17-11CLG Select Committee Report on Localism Response Jun-2011 P12-11Community Right to Challenge Consultation Response May-2011 P11-11Community Right to Buy Consultation Response May-2011 P10-11Review of Statutory Duties Consultation Response May-2011 P06-11Data Transparency Consultation Response Mar-2011 P23-10New Homes Bonus Consultation Response Dec-2010 Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  6. LAIS Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  7. DCLG Ministers Secretary of State Eric Pickles Decentralisation & Planning Minister Greg Clark Housing Minister Grant Shapps www.communities.gov.uk Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  8. New Homes Bonus - DCLG Housing Minister Grant Shapps today pledged cash for communities who allow new homes to be built in their area. Almost £1bn Government funding has been set aside for councils that welcome new housing development, which they will be able to spend to benefit their local community. The Minister announced that the Government will match the council tax raised from new homes for the first six years through the New Homes Bonus. Councils and communities will work together to decide how to spend the extra funding - whether council tax discounts for local residents, boosting frontline services like rubbish collection or providing local facilities like swimming pools and leisure centres. Mr Shapps said "We are ending the system where the Government can tell communities what and where to build. That's why we've set aside almost £1bn so councils who build more homes start benefiting immediately from the extra cash, which they can spend on improving the local area. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbYsqBqtZUk&feature=player_embedded Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  9. Grant Shapps MP: Welwyn- Hatfield In January he told Welwyn Hatfield Times; “The town council is pointless, and I think the time has come for a campaign to back either its abolition, or its costs being dramatically slashed.” Mr Shapps said there was a “large crossover” with services and facilities run by both the borough and county councils, which could easily be incorporated In March he backtracked, after many comments that he was actually opposing his party’s own stated policy and he said that he was calling for a review of the town council’s structure and financing rather than its abolition – ‘although that scenario may indeed be the outcome of any review.’ The ‘Fairer Deal for Hatfield’ Website is no longer being promoted by him – but it is still live – perhaps Eric Pickles sat on him (ouch). http://andrewlainton.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/grant-shapps-opposes-localism-calls-own-town-council-pointless/ Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  10. NALC - New Homes Bonus Response Question 5: Do you agree with the proposal to reward local authorities for bringing empty properties back into use through the New Homes Bonus? Are there any practical constraints? If not, what would the appropriate split be, and why? No, we do not agree with the split. It should be; in parished areas with District and County tiers: Parish – 5%; District – 75% County – 20%. In parished areas with Unitary Authorities and in London: Parish – 7% Unitary – 93%. This would help local councils deliver the Big Society agenda and the neighbourhood planning elements of the Localism Bill. Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  11. Business Rates Local Government Resource Review: Proposals for Business Rates Retention. Before the introduction of the poll tax, business rates were set locally by councils and included a proportion retained by the local council. Since April 1990, they have been set by and passed on to central government, and are known as National Non Domestic Rates NNDR. The proposal is to allow local authorities to retain the NNDR and to reduce the grants to local authorities from central government. Where: http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/localgovernmentfinance/lgresourcereview/ How to respond: ResourceReview@communities.gsi.gov.uk When: Consultation ends 24th October 2011 http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/pdfs/pub_26_-_full_publication.pdf http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1990/mar/27/poll-tax-northumberland Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  12. LAIS – Business Rates Local Government Resource Review: Proposals for Business Rates Retention A consultation on the potential change to council tax arrangements to enable principal local authorities to retain business rates. This is being described as a means to help them to improve their services locally and create greater buy-in to locally-driven economic and business vibrancy. What it does not do is provide local councils with any element of the business rates, despite the fact that those councils often deal with the impact of business on the community and are crucial to the attractiveness of an area to visitors that businesses rely on etc. The document makes one reference to ‘parishes’ noting that they are covered by the New Burdens Doctrine (see LAIS1323) which requires central Government in some circumstances to assess and properly fund any new burdens on local government which would have otherwise resulted in an increase in council tax. Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  13. Business Rates - Questions Should Parish and Town Councils receive a share of the NNDR? What responsibilities/conditions could be imposed? Should Parish and Town Council properties be exempt from NNDR? How can parish and town councils support the local economy? How should Town and Parish Councils respond to the consultation? Responding to Government Consultations Business Rates – An opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion?

  14. Responding to Government ConsultationsBusiness RatesAn Opportunity or a Foregone Conclusion? Yes, it probably is a foregone conclusion, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use this as another opportunity to tell government about the value of local councils.

More Related