Business rates
Social enterprise can play a part in reshaping our high streets
Nicola Steuer explains how the School for Social Entrepreneurs and its partners are using a new form of grant funding called Match Trading aimed at focusing social enterprises and community businesses on growth
EXCLUSIVE: Charity Commission to intervene in £2.4bn rates dispute
Charity Commission experts will be called on to help the High Court settle the long-running legal dispute between councils and NHS trusts over rates relief.
West Midlands scrap plans for business rates hike
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has ruled out a rise in business rates for the region.
Planning amid the certainty of uncertainty
John Hewitt says finance directors and their teams have been working ‘minor miracles’ in signing off balanced budgets for the last 10 years. He outlines a number of steps Government could take to help local authorities plan more effectively.
Emergency settlement call as councils face financial cliff-edge
Calls have been made by a think-tank for a one-year emergency local government settlement with councils facing a ‘financial cliff-edge’.
Showtime by the seaside
Ministers, mandarins, town hall, Whitehall and more all met in Bournemouth last week for the Local Government Association conference. Michael Burton reports on the highlights
Court date set for councils' £2bn tax dispute with NHS trusts
A court date has been set for the long-running legal dispute between councils and NHS trusts over rates relief.
Grabbing a larger slice of the cake
On paper, cash-strapped councils face many options for raising revenue. As they await the Spending Review, David Phillips argues they need ‘cake decisiveness...to plan how to grow the cake for an increasingly austere diet'.
LGA asks for review of revaluation deadline change
Proposed changes to business rates revaluations would prove ‘incredibly problematic’ for councils, it has been claimed.
EXCLUSIVE: Gwynne goes for Broke
Shadow local government secretary Andrew Gwynne has demanded his opposite number explains how his ministry repeated the same error in the business rates formula.
Spending Review poses 'challenge' for fair funding
A minister has said a one-year settlement for local government would pose a ‘challenge’ for implementing the fair funding review in 2020/21.
Business rates revaluation brought forward
The Government is to press ahead with bringing forward the next business rates revaluation, it has announced today.
Taking the lead on town centres
The local government finance system has become much more reliant on economic growth, says Simone Hines. It needs to weigh up the risks of doing this at every step of the way.
Business rates system 'past its sell-by date'
The business rates system is out of date, out of touch, unfit for purpose and ‘past its sell-by-date,’ local government leaders told MPs at a Treasury Committee hearing today.
Medway habits must change, officers warn
Medway Council’s ‘reliance on windfalls’ is unsustainable after increased income from local taxation allowed it to balance its 2018/19 budget, senior councillors will be warned.
Labour report calls for radical tax and planning reforms
Replacing council tax and business rates are among the radical policies proposed in a report commissioned by the Labour Party.
Dawes orders review of review after ministry makes same error again
The Government may have to pay out up to £15m to councils after it made yet another error in its business rate pilot administration.
Legal row could drag on for two years
A row between councils and supermarkets over business rates charged on cash machines could be tied up in costly litigation for up to two years, an expert has warned.
Scottish councils need more power - think-tank
Scottish local government needs a ‘renewal,’ a think tank has urged, with directly elected mayors and complete control over council tax and business rates.
£3m hit for sector threat after British Steel blow
Local government finances could receive a £2.8m business rates hit after British Steel was forced into liquidation following various trading challenges.