A committee of MPs recommendation to the government to allow councils to levy a supplementary business rate, received little support from industry/business groups.
The communities and local government committee said local authorities should be allowed to make local variations to the rates charged to businesses.
The move would be a positive step towards financial devolution and would allow councils to take a stronger role in building the "distinctiveness" of their area, it was argued.
The committee chair, Dr Phyllis Starkey, said: "Supplementary business rates would be a significant step forward in terms of liberation and local empowerment. If the government gets the framework right, local authorities will be able to take forward these proposals in a manner closely tailored to the specific needs and individual circumstances of the areas they represent".
"The committee understands the concerns that some parts of the business community have about returning even a small element of control over business rates to local authorities but we believe that the protections and safeguards we have recommended would do much to alleviate businesses concerns and to reduce the possibility of negative unintended consequences. "Supplementary business rates could offer local areas a means of investing in themselves, in their futures and in their economic development."
British Chambers of Commerce said it was "completely unacceptable" to ask businesses to pay more.
The Federation of Small Businesses called on the government to drop the idea of a supplementary business rate. |
