Commerce unites to urge scrapping of new rates levy on out of town business
30 November 2018
Twenty-one of the country's leading business organisations have written a joint letter to Scottish Finance Secretary, Derek Mackay MSP, urging him to scrap the proposed new business rates levy on out of town premises.
The 21 organisations represent a wide cross section of Scottish industry including manufacturing, retail, energy, commercial property, construction, transport, leisure and tourism.
The collective call comes ahead of the Scottish Government's Budget expected on 12 December. The text of the letter is as follows:
Derek Mackay MSP Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Business & Fair Work Scottish Government
St Andrew's House Regent Road EDINBURGH
28 November 2018
Dear Finance Secretary,
We are writing to you ahead of the Cabinet's consideration of the Non-Domestic Rates Bill to voice our concerns about the proposed implementation of an out of town levy, a policy that runs contrary to the rates reform agenda's goal of supporting business growth and long-term investment, and which could ultimately damage Scotland's competitiveness.
We have always been keen to see the business rates system better flex with economic and trading conditions and as such welcome the thrust of the proposed Non-Domestic Rates Bill, especially more frequent revaluations and reducing the time taken between valuations and them coming into force.
However, we are profoundly concerned with the idea of giving local authorities the ability to levy an additional business rates charge on premises located out of town. We urge you not to proceed with this aspect of the legislation due to the potential impact it would have on a wide-range of vital businesses, many of them major employers in communities across Scotland.
Business rates remain onerous and a new levy would be a further burden on top of the existing headline poundage rate, large business supplement, and BID levy that many firms already pay. It would add complexity, cost and unpredictability into the rates system, and undermine commercial investment – standing at odds with the thrust of the broader Barclay rates reform agenda which is about ensuring competitiveness and minimising complexity.
We want Scotland to be a great place to do business. Dispensing with the proposed new rates levy would go some way to delivering on the government's ambition of having the most competitive rates regime in the UK.
Yours sincerely,
Gavin Partington, Director General, British Soft Drinks Association Tracy Black, Director, CBI Scotland Grahame Barn, Chief Executive, Civil Engineering Contractors Association Scotland Gordon Nelson, Director, Federation of Master Builders Scotland David Thomson, Chief Executive, Food & Drink Federation Scotland Elizabeth de Jong, UK Director of Policy, Freight Transport Association Alex Vick, Senior Executive & Finance Director, Horticultural Trades Association Alasdair Smith, Chief Executive, Scottish Bakers Liz Cameron OBE, Chief Executive, Scottish Chambers of Commerce Paul Sheerin, Chief Executive, Scottish Engineering Pete Cheema OBE, Chief Executive, Scottish Grocers' Federation Sarah-Jane Laing, Executive Director, Scottish Land & Estates David Melhuish, Director, Scottish Property Federation Claire Mack, Chief Executive, Scottish Renewables David Lonsdale, Director, Scottish Retail Consortium Marc Crothall, Chief Executive, Scottish Tourism Alliance Colin Smith, Chief Executive, Scottish Wholesale Association Miles Beale, Chief Executive, The Wine and Spirit Trade Association Phil Clapp, Chief Executive, UK Cinema Association Willie Macleod, Executive Director – Scotland, UKHospitality Peter Ward, Chief Executive, UK Warehousing Association
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Note: The proposed new business rates levy on commercial premises located out of town formed part of the Scottish Government's Barclay Implementation consultation paper published on 25 June 2018.
For media enquiries: David Lonsdale Scottish Retail Consortium Telephone: +44 (0)7801 629088 Email: david.lonsdale@brc.org.uk
More Information
Contact Kirsty Ritchie, Food and Drink Federation Scotland, at: kirsty.ritchie@fdfscotland.org.uk, or 0131 222 8040.
