East Midland Chamber responds to business rates announcement
The planned revaluation of business rates will no longer take place in 2021, to help reduce uncertainty for firms affected by the impacts of coronavirus.
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick MP has announced that following the recent economic shocks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the legislation to bring the next business rates revaluation forward by one year, from 2022 to 2021, has been scrapped.
Commenting, Scott Knowles, Chief Executive of East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire), said: “Although this move will put an end to the uncertainty caused by the planned 2021 business rates revaluation, it won’t address the fundamental issues of our broken business rates system, which have long needed fixing.
“Despite attempts by successive governments to introduce marginal reforms, the current business rates system is still unfair and damaging to businesses of all sizes, sectors and locations. It’s a burden with a high up-front cost, which firms are forced to pay before they make even a penny of profit.
“In the post-coronavirus economy, business is going to be called upon to do much of the heavy lifting to ensure our recovery is both swift and sustainable. So, rather than use the Covid-19 pandemic as a reason to postpone the next revaluation, Government should instead use it as the stimulus to address the longstanding flaws within the current system to make it much, much fairer and alleviate some of the excessive pressure it puts on businesses.”
