Agenda item

Context:

To receive a verbal update in respect of Business Rates Revaluation.

Key Issues:

Situation Analysis:

Following a recent draft Business Rates Revaluation, internal analysis has identified that 65% of Monmouthshire’s rateable values have increased, 11% have stayed the same and 24% have decreased.

A recent Welsh Government consultation exercise has asserted that approximately half of all ratepayers will continue to pay nothing following the revaluation as a result of support provided by the Small Business Rates Relief Scheme (SBRR). However, analysis suggests that only 44.7% of ratepayers will receive full Small Business Rates Relief (down from 51.5%) and 31.9% of Monmouthshire businesses will receive no relief under SBRR (a 17.3% increase).  Where a business is not already eligible for small business rates relief, it will not be eligible for transitional relief under the current Welsh Government proposals.

Should the revaluation go ahead, it is likely to have a considerable impact on Monmouthshire’s local businesses, particularly the retail sector which will experience an overall sector increase of 11%, the highest in Wales.  Local facilities, including post offices, public houses and village halls also seem to be particularly vulnerable as a result of this revaluation.   The table below provides an analysis of percentage changes on a town by town basis:

Action to Date:

Given that ‘Supporting enterprise, entrepreneurship and job creation’ is one of the Council’s key priorities, the following actions have been taken to raise awareness of this issue and the potential impact that this can have on the cash flow of Monmouthshire’s local businesses:

•           4^th November 2016: The Chief Executive and Deputy Leader met with David Davies MP to raise concerns.

•           30th November 2016: The Chief Executive, Deputy Leader and Chairman of Monmouth Chamber (representing all Monmouthshire’s Chambers) are meeting with the District Valuer to:

·         Request a postponement of the revaluation so that the methodology can be examined.  There is a need to understand why Monmouthshire is experiencing such a high proportion of the increase when there are inconsistencies with other counties. The system must be seen to be transparent and fair.

·         To understand if there is an opportunity for the Council to make a technical appeal on behalf of the County’s businesses, although the Authority is not aware of an existing methodology that will enable it to do so.

·         Alternately, to seek assurance that those who lodge appeals against the revaluation should have increases postponed until the determination of the appeals.  Businesses asked to pay these unexpected hikes at short notice could suffer severe cash flow problems.  If the Welsh Government refuses to re-examine these proposals, Monmouthshire could lose some of the County’s iconic businesses.

·      1^st December 2016:  County Councillor Greenland to put a motion to Council urging Welsh Government to postpone these draft proposals to give time for a thorough review of the methodology and results thrown up from this revaluation to be considered. Also for Welsh Government not to impose any increases until the results of the appeals are known. Also, to call for sympathetic transitional arrangements for all businesses given that Welsh Government, although has announced a transitional scheme for small businesses affected by the increase, it has not done the same for the larger businesses which will be harder hit.

•          5^th December 2016:  Nick Ramsay AM is holding a Public Meeting in Usk Memorial Hall at 7.30pm.

Member Scrutiny:

·         The Select Committee endorsed the information received in the verbal update and Members agreed to raise their concerns at Full Council.

·         It was considered that in order to maintain a viable business entity in Monmouthshire this matter needed to be addressed and resolved as quickly as possible.

·         The report presented would be emailed to the Select Committee.

·         The Cabinet Member stated that this matter is serious for many of Monmouthshire’s businesses. It is likely that the smaller local businesses are likely to suffer under these proposals. It was noted that it was in the gift of Welsh Government to postpone these increases and for a better transitional period. This matter will be raised with Welsh Government.

·         Some Select Committee Members considered that, as a Council, we could support local businesses by not putting a charge on businesses for their ‘A’ boards, with a view to showing support. It was considered that the cost implication of introducing this charge would create a minimal financial gain for the Council.  It might be better not to introduce it and therefore support local businesses. The Vice-Chair asked officers to look into this matter but noted that the main issue that needed to be addressed was the matter of business rates.