New opportunities for councils to benefit from growth

Councils are being encouraged by the Secretary for Communities and Local Government to join forces and put forward proposals to retain the growth in their business rates income.

Sajid Javid is offering councils new opportunities to benefit from growth as he announces new pilots that will begin from April 2018. The pilots will be able to retain 100 per cent of the growth in income raised locally through business rates, responding to council calls to reduce local government’s dependence on central government.

Findings from these pilots will then help develop options for local authorities to retain more of the money they raise in the future.

The move builds on previous pilots already launched in Liverpool, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West of England, Cornwall and Greater London in April 2017, which will also continue into next year.

The government is also keen to spread the pilots across the country, with a focus on rural areas, to ensure that more can be learnt about the scheme in different places.

Alongside the pilots, the government will continue to work with local authorities, the Local Government Association, and others on reform options that give local authorities more control over the money they raise and are sustainable in the long term.

Sajid Javid, Communities Secretary, said: “I am committed to helping local authorities control more of the money they raise locally.

“By encouraging councils to work together, with the aim of sharing their business rates income, it enables them to take a much more strategic view on decisions that benefit the wider area.

“Expanding the pilot programme is an opportunity to consider how rates retention could operate across the country and we will continue to work closely with local government to agree the best way forward.”