“The reduction in business rates will further reduce the ability of already cash-strapped local councils to pay for the social care that people with a learning disability desperately need,” said Jan Tregelles, the chief executive of the disability charity Mencap.
Announcing the plan, Mr Osborne said that business rates were “the fixed cost that weigh down on many small enterprises”.
“In total, half of all British properties will see their business rates fall or be abolished,” he pledged. “A typical corner shop in Barnstaple will pay no business rates. A typical hairdressers in Leeds will pay no business rates. A typical newsagents in Nuneaton will pay no business rates.”
The Independent
How odd then that EDDC is charging business rates on its much-raised beach hut charges! Can anyone shed light on this anomaly?
East Devon Watch 
I would assume that they are changing the definition for the Small Business Rates Reduction scheme to include more businesses and that they are either extending or making permanent the doubling of the reduction from 50% to 100%.
(I should add that despite being a beneficiary of this – as a partner in a small business – I do not agree with it. Small businesses do use local services like road access and road lighting which require expenditure, and they should therefore contribute to the running costs of these.)
Beach huts ARE eligible for the same Non-Domestic Rate Relief, but unlike other councils who are more helpful, EDDC is not proactive about informing Beach Hut renters about this (or even that this is now a separate charge on top of the rent rather than being included in the rent as previously).
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