Category Archives: Business Rates

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29 Sep 2017

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Business Rates, DCC, Economy, Inequality

Retaining 100% business rates will make make many count councils worse off

“County councils face unique challenges and retaining 100% of business rates could widen their funding gap, the County Councils Network has warned.

Analysis from the cross-party group, released yesterday, showed under full business rate retention the funding gap for county authorities could increase by £700m by 2029.

This was because business rate growth would fail to keep pace with acute demographic and service pressures for county councils, the analysis – done by local government consultancy firm Pixel Financial Management – concluded.

In contrast areas, such as London boroughs and district councils, are likely to disproportionately benefit from this policy, the CCN found.

The research comes as the Department for Communities and Local Government is encouraging bids for the second pilot scheme.

Council leaders at the CCN are calling on the government to provide more options in the pilot schemes to encourage more county authorities to participate, which would enable the risks to be fully trialled before the policy was rolled out across the country.

Pilots for 100% business rate retention have already been launched in Liverpool, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West of England, Cornwall and Greater London in April, which will also continue into next year.

The West Midlands combined authority was part of the first pilots for the scheme, which began this April, ahead of plans to roll out the policy nationwide by 2020.

CCN finance spokesman and leader of Leicestershire County Council, Nick Rushton, said the research did not aim to dissuade countries from taking part in the pilots but to raise awareness of the issues facing the sector.

Rushton said: “The modelling we have released shows the unique challenges facing county authorities in implementing 100% business rates retention.

“CCN is supportive of moves towards greater local retention, alongside wider fiscal devolution, but we must ensure the system provides sustainable long-term funding and a platform to truly incentivise growth and self-sufficiency.”

He concluded that more options should be on the table, such as a ‘no detriment’ clause which is missing from next year’s pilots.

The CCN warn that by not providing this clause it may mean only ‘high growth’ counties coming forward to pilot, meaning that risk is not properly trialled.

Rushton added: “These findings clearly demonstrate the need for a fairer funding formula as part of wider reforms to local government finance.

“These reforms must stay on track and government should not shy away from adopting a new approach to measuring relative need; one based on real cost-drivers, not past spend.”

http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2017/09/county-councils-funding-gap-could-widen-100-business-rate-retention

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9 Sep 2017

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Austerity cuts, Business Rates, Economy, Small and Medium businesses

“Staircase tax” – could mean a 5,000% backdated increase in business rates

“Conservative MP Nicky Morgan is pushing the UK’s property tax agency to detail the impact of the so-called “staircase tax”, amid fears that firms could be forced to stomach a 5,000% hike in bills.

The Treasury Select Committee chairwoman has written to Valuation Office Agency (VOA) chief executive Melissa Tatton for details on how businesses may be hit by the contentious levy.

“At first sight, it seems unfair to tax businesses different depending solely on whether the staircases between their rooms are communal or private,” Morgan said in her letter.

… “It also seems particularly harsh for the increase in rates to be backdated, and I would be interested to know the VOA’s reason for backdating it.”

The staircase tax is the result of a Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a single business space.

It means offices covering multiple floors in a building will be billed separately if their corridors or staircases are communal, rather than private to the business.

And for businesses that have expanded, the decision to take on offices in the same building as existing premises, connected by communal space, could now prove more costly than they first realised or planned for.

Morgan has asked the VOA’s Tatton to explain the decision to backdate the tax to 2015 in England and 2010 in Wales, and to provide details on how many businesses will face a higher rates bill as a result.

She has also requested information on the average bill increase that businesses will face and whether any transitional relief will be made available.

The tax has faced cross-party criticism, not only from Morgan, but from Labour’s shadow business minister Chi Onwurah and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable.

It comes amid a backlash from industry groups including the The Federation of Small Business (FSB), which has warned many small firms could be set for a substantial hike in their bills, the Press Association reported.

“This significant escalation of cross-party scrutiny of the staircase tax will be hugely welcomed by the thousands of firms set to be stung by this ridiculous levy,” FSB Chairman Mike Cherry, said.

“No small business should receive a sudden tax hike of 5,000% simply because a workspace has been separated, for years, by a communal area, stairway or lift.

“Some small business owners are discussing whether to knock holes in their walls or stick a staircase on the outside of their premises.”

It is the latest tax debacle to hit British business this year, having been left reeling after the Government’s contentious business rates review this year.

The revaluation, which came into force in March, updated rateable values to take into account property price changes over the last seven years.

Business rent and rates specialists CVS said UK companies are already facing a £4.5 billion increase in business rates over the next 5 years, even before the staircase tax is introduced.

Cherry has called on the Government to repeal the new levy.

“This is no way to run a tax system in the 20th century, let alone the 21st. Ministers have the power to provide relief, and they should do this urgently – to correct this defect in the UK tax system.”

It comes as Chancellor Philip Hammond prepares the first full Autumn Budget, expected to be presented to Parliament between late November to early December.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nicky-morgan-staircase-tax_uk_59b3dfa0e4b0b5e531067ab3

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24 Aug 2017

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Austerity cuts, Business Rates, Economy, Small and Medium businesses

A new business rates sting for small and medium businesses

“A Plymouth businessman has spoken out against the new “staircase tax” which has cost him thousands of pounds.

Peter Cuddehay, who owns a printing business and art gallery on Plymouth’s waterfront, said new tax rules, which treat different floors in the same building as separate premises, are unfair.

The changes, which affect up to 30,000 small firms, have hit him in the pocket and sabotaged his investment plans.

“It’s an iniquitous tax,” the 67-year-old business owner said. “Where is the fairness? I think it’s wrong.”

Mr Cuddehay has been stung by a Supreme Court ruling which allows the Valuation Office Agency, which recalculated business rates in 2017, to levy rates individually on offices on separate floors or corridors.

Previously they were treated as a single premises.

Some firms face rate hikes of up to £15,000 as a result of the new rules – which are backdated to 2015.

Mr Cuddehay said he has been forced to rip up his accounts for the past two years and start again.

His business operates over three floors, the top one only being a store, which has now been defined by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as “two premises”.

Mr Cuddehay, who employs five people, previously qualified for business rates relief because the rental value of his property was less than £12,000.

But he now has to pay a back-dated bill of more than £5,000 – and will face tax bills in future when before he didn’t have to pay anything for being below the limit.

He faces prosecution if he doesn’t pay up, so he’s handed over the cash, but appealed and is awaiting a date for his hearing.

“It’s a joke. We must have been one of the first companies to have been hit by this,” he said. “A retrospective action is outrageous, I can’t believe they can get away with it.”

And it’s a double charge for Mr Cuddehay, a member of the Federation of Small Businesses as he now expects his Waterfront Business Improvement District levy charge, calculated on rateable value, to rise too.

“All our plans for investment have gone out of the window,” he said. “We’ll also have to go back to out landlord and maybe say we don’t need the top floor storage.”

Mr Cuddehay has now written to Sutton and Devonport MP Luke Pollard about his predicament.

Philip Hammond, the chancellor, is now under pressure from backbench MPs to address the changes and perhaps overrule them when he announces his Budget in autumn 2017.”

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/business/businessman-loses-thousands-because-new-376567

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6 Jul 2017

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Austerity cuts, Business Rates

Councillors want more from business rates

“Local Government Association chairman Lord Porter this week confirmed the body’s new hardline approach to business rates retention, publicly rejecting any imposition of new duties from central government.

Last week, Room151 revealed a shift in approach by the LGA towards a stronger rejection of the idea that business rates retention should be accompanied by new service obligations for councils.

Speaking to the LGA annual conference, Lord Porter said that councils should expect to be rewarded for their success in slashing budgets during the recent period of austerity.

He said: “Councils can no longer be expected to run our local services on a shoestring. We must shout from the roof tops for local government to be put back on a sustainable financial footing.

“We’ve protected government for a long time by making sure all the cuts thrown our way were implemented in a way that shielded our residents as much as possible.

“But if austerity is coming to an end, then, as we were in the front of the queue when it started, we must also be at the front of the queue for more money when it ends . …”

Lord Porter: ‘We don’t want any new duties’ for business rates retention

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23 Jun 2017

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Austerity cuts, Business Rates, Economy, EDDC

Oh, oh – no business rates devolution? Where’s the lost income coming from?

“Councils demand ‘clarity’ over funding after business rates devolution is dropped.

A steering group which spent the last 15 months consulting on how 100% business rates retention would work has been disbanded after the exclusion of local government finance legislation in this week’s Queen’s Speech.

Parliamentary time to consider the Local Government Finance Bill in the last Parliament ran out before Theresa May called this month’s General Election. However, the sector was stunned this week when the government made it clear that it would not revive the process for at least two years.

Room151 has seen a letter sent to members of the steering group from Anne Stuart, the newly-installed civil servant leading the business rates retention process.

It said: “I’m sorry this should be my first communication, but I am emailing because as you will have no doubt seen, the Queen’s Speech did not include a new Local Government Finance Bill and so it will not form part of the Parliamentary timetable for this session.”

In her letter, she thanked members of the steering group but said she would only be in touch “once we are in a position to resume working with you on the future of local government finance reform.”

However, she said that ministers remain committed to local government taking greater control of its income. “We are engaging ministers on the options for future reform without an immediate Bill…,” she said.

Ministers have reaffirmed their commitment to a thorough, evidence-based review and that work will continue with local government on that issue, Stuart said.

One steering group member told Room151: “This is more than a year’s work down the drain.

“If the government is planning to introduce any reform by executive order, it needs to make sure they take the sector with them.”

Lord Porter, chairman of the Local Government Association, said that the failure to move on with business rates devolution was “hugely concerning”.

He said: “While negotiating Brexit will be a huge challenge for the government, it cannot be a distraction from the challenges facing our public services. The day-to-day concerns of our communities go far beyond Brexit.

“Only with adequate funding and the right powers can local government help the government tackle the challenges facing our nation now and in the future.”

Jo Miller, Solace president and chief executive of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “I am disappointed that key legislation—absolutely fundamental to ensuring the future sustainability of local government—has now been dropped.

“Local government urgently needs clarity around our future funding—at present we simply face a cliff edge from 2020. This must urgently be resolved.”

A DCLG statement said: “The government is committed to delivering the manifesto pledge to help local authorities to control more of the money they raise and will work closely with local government to agree the best way to achieve this.”

The steering group to guide the process of business rates devolution was created in March last year after George Osborne announced that primary legislation would be introduced to allow councils to keep 100% of growth in business rates—up from the current 50%.”

http://www.room151.co.uk/funding/councils-demand-clarity-over-funding-after-business-rates-devolution-is-dropped/

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26 Apr 2017

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Accountability, Business Rates, EDDC, Small and Medium businesses

Business rates: the judgment of Solomon as just who benefits is decided by councils

Can we trust EDDC to be fair? How will we know they if are being fair or unfair. Will they publish their criteria? Will they say why they benefit one business but not another? Will they publish details of appeals?

Trust – it’s all done on trust. Oh dear.

“The government appears to have performed a weekend U-turn on business rates and says a £300m relief fund to help small businesses worst hit by the shakeup is now available for councils to share out.

On Friday the Guardian was told by the Department for Communities and Local Government that although the consultation on how to distribute the money was complete it would require the approval of the new government – signalling a hiatus of several months until after the 8 June general election.

However, speaking in the House of Commons on Monday the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, insisted there would be “absolutely no delay because of the general election”. “It’s going ahead, exactly as planned. Councils are free to start using the scheme and helping local businesses.”

The business rates revaluation triggered a furious political row in February with the government coming under fire from its own MPs over the impact of the changes in their constituencies. Many of the affected businesses are in Conservative heartlands and the pressure saw the chancellor Philip Hammond announce a £435m relief package in the budget.

Half a million shopkeepers, pubs and restaurants saw their rates bills – the commercial equivalent of council tax – increase at the start of this month after a revaluation of property hit parts of the country where prices have surged.

For example, a property boom in the Suffolk coastal town of Southwold forced rateable values up by 152%, with some shop owners saying the resulting hike in their rates bill threatened the viability of their businesses.

Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, described the situation created by the revaluation as “totally unfair” as although more small businesses were exempt from rates in her constituency others had seen their rateable value increase by 600%. “No one knows how the new relief funds will be distributed,” she said. “Total chaos.” …

It is now up to local councils, who receive funds quarterly, to decide the local businesses that need help. Local authorities have already been developing their schemes with London’s Haringey, for example, where the rates of most high street shops have increased by 20% to 30%, considering giving preference to small, medium and independent firms.”…

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/24/business-rates-relief-fund-sajid-javid-general-election

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25 Apr 2017

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Business Rates, Economy, EDDC, Knowle/Honiton/Exmouth relocation

Some councils on verge of bankruptcy ?

And still our council wants £10 million from us for a new HQ …

” … Nothing can disguise the real crisis in local government. With councils facing a £5.8bn funding gap by 2020 – when, ominously, they are all supposed to move towards self-financing, without direct government grants – the Local Government Association has warned that even if councils abandoned road repairs, stopped maintaining parks and open spaces, closed all libraries, museums and children’s centres, and stopped funding bus services, they might still not plug the hole.

Recently, the National Audit Office warned that the government was not on track to make councils self-sufficient, with the “financial sustainability” of English local government at risk through poor (central) planning. With councils due to retain income generated from all business rates – currently raised locally and redistributed nationally – there’s little forthcoming from ministers on how the councils with low tax bases can be expected to survive. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/apr/25/metro-mayors-local-government-cuts

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17 Apr 2017

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Accountability, Business Rates, Economy, Small and Medium businesses

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“Tesco to save £105m in business rates after property revaluation”

“Tesco will see the business rates bill for its biggest stores fall by £105m over the next five years, highlighting another anomaly created by the controversial tax.

Earlier this year, the government came under pressure to take action on business rates after a revaluation of property in Britain hit independent shopkeepers hard in parts of the country where property prices had surged.

In Southwold, the coastal town’s property boom forced rateable values up by 152%, with some shop owner’s saying the hike threatened the viability of their business. Meanwhile, it emerged that online retailers such as Amazon, Shop Direct and Asos were enjoying tax cuts after the bills for their distribution centres declined.

MPs on the communities and local government committee will question the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, about the revaluation on Wednesday. Javid has already promised to “level the playing field” between online retailers and high street shops, and the committee chairman, Clive Betts, said he would press for a timetable for a review.

“There is a fundamental problem in the way valuations for business rates are done and that needs to be looked at,” said Betts. “High street shops seem to pay more than a similar unit out-of-town. That doesn’t feel right when there is a public and political view that high streets need some form of protection. There’s also an imbalance between property-based businesses and online sellers”

The Tesco store analysis by the business rates specialists CVS calculated that the bill for its largest stores in England and Wales would fall by £13m this year alone, from £450m to £437m.

“Over the next five years, allowing for transitional relief which limits how quickly bills can rise and fall … CVS projects Tesco will save £105.32m in rates under the revaluation for its largest stores,” said its chief executive, Mark Rigby. “In comparison, across England and Wales small shops have seen their rateable values, used to determine bills, increase by 8.5% whilst pubs have seen a 14.36% hike.

Tesco has 3,400 UK stores. The CVS figures is based on official data on its 563 largest shops, which are classed as superstores. The analysis estimates that the supermarket’s rateable value has fallen by 8.6% to £825.78m compared with 2010. It follows a 2015 writedown of the value Tesco’s property portfolio by £4.7bn.

Tesco said the 2017 revaluation would not alter its status as one of the UK’s largest ratepayers and called for urgent reform of the system, which many business leaders agree is not fit for purpose.

“Tesco is one of the UK’s largest ratepayers, paying almost £700m in rates in 2016-2017, and the 2017 revaluation will not alter that trend,” said a spokesman. “Tesco has a significant physical presence across high streets and town centres, and fixed costs such as business rates are placing huge pressure on our operations. The current rates system is unsustainable and needs urgent reform.”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/16/tesco-to-save-105m-in-business-rates-after-property-revaluation

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20 Mar 2017

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Asset sweating, Business Rates, Consultation, Economy, EDDC, Small and Medium businesses

Views wanted on East Devon street trading

Owl says: make no mistake this is simply an EDDC cash cow. Instead of having a few regulated streets where outdoor trading can take place with a licence, this extends to ALL streets – bringing in more income for the council but potentially setting permanent traders with increased overheads (including business rates) against temporary traders without them.

No problem in vibrant, thriving towns but a big problem elsewhere. Except Sidmouth where local traders were so vehemently against it, the plan was dropped for that town only.

“District bosses are consulting on their latest plans for new street trading rules.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) is proposing to designate the whole of the district as a consent street, meaning street traders would have to apply to the council for a licence to trade.

However, following its initial consultation, EDDC now plans to exclude Sidmouth.

To take part in the consultation, visit http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/streettrading, or to obtain a paper copy call 01395 517569. The closing date for responses is April 26.”

http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/views_wanted_on_east_devon_street_trading_rules_1_4935920

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9 Mar 2017

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Accountability, Business Rates, Corruption, Democracy, Scrutiny, Transparency

Councils to administer a discretionary business rate relief fund

“Local authorities are to share a £300m pot for discretionary business rate reliefs to help firms facing higher bills due to next month’s revaluation of the levy, chancellor Philip Hammond has announced.”

http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2017/03/councils-share-ps300m-business-rate-relief-fund

Question: How will this be monitored to ensure that officers and councillors do not favour their mates?

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19 Feb 2017

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Business Rates, Inequality, Small and Medium businesses

Business rates row intensifies

“Ministers try to defuse business rates row

Philip Hammond, the chancellor, is examining ways of making the scheme fairer after widespread outrage at the first rates overhaul in seven years, which will come into effect in April.

Small businesses face huge increases while some of the biggest companies in Britain — including Amazon and large supermarkets — will benefit from rate cuts on some of their properties.

The chancellor will be looking at ways of ensuring things can be done a little fairer
Senior government sources insisted they would stick with the revaluation but conceded that more might need to be done to ease the pain.

Hammond is understood to be examining ways of preventing a “cliff edge” increase after business groups signed a letter demanding changes. But he is reluctant to pour more money into a fund to help those worst hit.

A senior government source said: “The chancellor has paid very close attention to the way this has played out over the last week. If you take money for this, it comes away from other things. The system has been fixed to ensure there are far more winners than losers.

“However, the chancellor is attuned to this and will be looking at ways of ensuring that things can be done a little fairer”. He will want to prevent “heavy-handed” implementation of the revaluation so as to ensure “the system never has a cliff edge like this ever again”.

The shift came as Grant Shapps, the former local government minister, said ministers should “quietly drop” the planned revaluation. He said he was “concerned” that the changes “may undo progress” on reviving Britain’s high streets. “Might be better not to revaluate BizRates,” he tweeted, adding that he would “need convincing transition plans will help”.

Shapps’s intervention came as the chief executive of Sainsbury’s waded into the row, calling for “fundamental reforms”. Mike Coupe described the current setup as “archaic” and called for a “level playing field”. He said: “The way it currently stands, there is an advantage for those without bricks-and-mortar operations so there’s a strong case for a level playing field in business rates and taxation generally.”

The Sunday Times has established that large supermarkets are to benefit from business rate cuts of up to 25% on their out-of-town stores while nearby struggling high streets are to be “hammered”.

Reporters analysed the top 20 towns being hit by the biggest rise in business rates, compared with the changes in rates at the local out-of-town supermarket.

Thirteen out of the 20 supermarkets were set for business rate cuts, five were having no changes and two faced higher rates.

Traders in Southwold, Suffolk, say the “rateable value” of their properties — which is used to calculate business rates — has risen by 177%. By contrast the nearest Tesco superstore — a 30-minute drive away in Lowestoft — has had its rateable value cut by 7%.

Rebecca Bishop, owner of the Two Magpies Bakery, who is facing an increase in her rates from £2,000 to £11,883, said: “The government is encouraging the growth of online retailing and out- of-town shopping and killing the high street.”

The fall in business rates for supermarkets in the 20 towns worst hit by the increases — including Cobham in Surrey, Padstow in Cornwall and Crowthorne in Berkshire — is reflected across the country.

The Valuation Office Agency is updating the rateable value of business properties on April 1 this year. The last time they were all valued was in 2010.

The rates rises have triggered a political storm with more than 500,000 traders facing increases.

The annual rates are calculated by multiplying the rateable value by a figure set by the government, which is up to 47.9p for 2017-18. There is also transitional relief to limit the sudden changes in bills.

Supermarkets are enjoying a rates cut because the rental values of their out-of-town stores has fallen.

Analysis by CVS, a business rates specialist, has found that the rateable values for 2,172 supermarkets in 2017 is £2.76bn compared with £2.93bn in 2010. The average superstore will see its rateable value fall by 5.9% or £79,368.

Sainbury’s said this weekend, however, that it expected its rates bill to rise from £483m to £500m.

CVS said it would “stick in the throat” of many small businesses trying to keep their “heads above water” while the warehouses of large online retailers such as Amazon and various superstores were getting business rates cuts.

It added that the government had said in 2015 that it would conduct a structural review of business rates but this was never delivered.

Mark Rigby, chief executive of CVS, said: “April will serve a hammer blow to small shops and the consideration should now be to ensure that they are in fact paying fair and accurate rates.”

The Department for Communities and Local Government said most businesses will either not see their rates rise, or will enjoy a fall.

It added that 520,000 ratepayers will see their bills increase, 920,000 will see them drop and 420,000 will see no change.”

Sunday Times, 19th Feb 17 (paywall)

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18 Feb 2017

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Austerity cuts, Business Rates, EDDC, Small and Medium businesses

Do our councils have plans for the effect of increased business rates on small businesses?

“Tory ministers were so concerned about the impact of business rates on the high street that they were planning extra financial support before the election, The Telegraph has learned, but the plans were later abandoned.

The Communities Department is understood to have grown worried that retailers were getting “completely clobbered” under the current business rates formula and worked with the Treasury to better protect the sector.

Plans were developed throughout 2014 and a review published before the 2015 election, but a Tory victory and a reshuffle saw the changes never adopted, with more modest reforms adopted instead.

The revelation that recent senior Conservative politicians were ready to act to protect the high street will fuel calls for Theresa May’s government to help those worst affected by an upcoming rates change.

For the first time in seven years business rates are being updated in line with property prices this April, leaving some firms facing increases of up to 400 per cent.

Small business owners have warned they face being driven out of business by the change, but government figures say the majority of firms will see no increase in their rates.” …

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28 Nov 2016

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Business Rates

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Some small rural businesses MAY get 100% business rate relief

“Rural rate relief will increase from 50% to 100% from next April, saving a business up to £2900 a year.

The measure was announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond in his 2016 Autumn Statement on Wednesday (23 November).

This business rate relief is available to businesses in rural areas with a population under 3,000 – but there are additional conditions attached.
The business must be the only village shop or post office with a rateable value of up to £8,500, or the only public house or petrol station with a rateable value of up to £12,500.”

http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/business/chancellor-announces-100-rural-rate-relief

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8 Sep 2016

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Business Rates, East Devon Growth Point, EDDC

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“Counties and districts demand funding top up when business rates fall short”

East Devon will, of course be losing ALL the business rates raised by the East Devon Growth Point which will go directly to our Local Enterprise Partnership. We haven’t heard our council complaining- quite the opposite.

“County and district councils have called on the government to commit to providing additional funding for local services where demand outstrips business rate growth following the forthcoming localisation of the levy.

In a joint statement of shared principles on the government’s business rate retention proposals, the County Councils Network, District Councils’ Network and Rural Services Network warned services could be hit without funding guarantees.

The government plans to devolve business rates to authorities by 2019-20. A funding baseline is likely to be set for town halls using local business rates as well as either a top up or tariff payment to reflect a new assessment of local need. Authorities will then retain all local growth – up from the 50% share currently allotted to the sector – and will be financially self-sufficient. Together with other locally raised revenue, mainly council tax, business rates growth will be used to provide council services.

However, the groups said today that the system would need to be monitored to ensure funding matches local demand over time.

“If core statutory demand-led service pressures, such as social care, are set to outstrip resources over time, central government should work with local government to agree additional funding sources,” the document stated.

“Local and central government should consider and agree a way of managing additional risks to local authorities of full retention and find a way of compensating against sharp changes in income or need.”

The groups also called for all areas to have the ability to both lower and raise the rates multiplier. Under the current proposals, authorities will only be able to cut the levy, although city region combined authorities will be able to increase the rate to pay for specific infrastructure projects.

A consultation on the basis for the devolved system is open until 26 September. Views are also being sought on areas where local authorities could take on the funding of services in order to make the plan initially fiscally neutral. Areas suggested by government include public health, early years, youth justice and the attendance allowance paid to help meet care costs.”

http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2016/09/counties-and-districts-demand-funding-top-when-business-rates-fall-short