Councils that fail to get business rates relief schemes in place by the beginning of next month could be named and shamed by the Government.
In a written statement, local government minister Marcus Jones said the ‘pace of providing relief to ratepayers has not been acceptable’.
The intervention comes six months after chancellor Philip Hammond announced a £435m package of support for ratepayers over the next four years in his Budget – just weeks before the 2017 revaluation came into effect.
Mr Jones has repeatedly warned councils to expedite relief payments to all businesses, but the sector has hit back at what it perceives have been unfair criticisms bearing in mind the Government’s late decision and the time it takes to update the necessary software.
Yesterday, Mr Jones nevertheless wrote to councils that have ‘not fully implemented’ rate relief schemes, asking them to rebill businesses that are to benefit ‘as soon as possible’.
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