Councils could see the return of business rates as soon as 2013, after deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, unveiled plans for a Local Government Finance Bill in the current Parliamentary session.
He told delegates at the Local Government Association conference in Birmingham last week that the legislation would come into force in ‘two to three years’.
But The MJ has learned the DCLG hopes to rush through the legislation, which would see the relocalisation of business rates and the introduction of tax increment finance, by the financial year beginning 1 April 2013. Mr Clegg also announced an expansion of the Government’s policy on community budgets.
For full coverage of the conference, see www.themj.co.uk
