Localised business rates “a financial shot in the arm”, says think tank

June 29, 2011

Reacting to the Deputy Prime Minister’s LGA Conference speech, Tom Symons, Senior Researcher of Localism think tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN), said:

“Allowing councils to retain their business rates will certainly give them more independence and a financial shot in the arm, but there will inevitably be winners and losers, with some equalization needing to take place”

“To limit the risks of increasing inequality, we need to be looking not just at how much money councils can access through business rates, but how able they are to drive growth. This means local authorities working out how they marry up business rate reform, community budgets, the new LEP framework, Enterprise Zones and more”

“This package of recommendations is not the last word on local government financial autonomy, in fact measures such as localizing business rates should be seen as only one ingredient of a local government plan for growth”

Ends


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