31/03/2017.
While acknowledging ‘good progress’ in the ‘complex project’ of designing the scheme for 100% retention of business rates by local authorities, a National Audit Office report emphasises that “clear risks (remain) both to the timely delivery of the initiative and to the achievement of its overall objectives”.
The Dept for Communities and Local Government’s core objectives in designing the scheme – which is due to start in 2019-20 – are to drive local economic growth and promote financial self-sufficiency for local authorities.
‘Planning for 100% local retention of business rates’ questions whether the Dept’s current approach is best suited to planning a scheme that can fully meet these objectives. It highlights
- the substantial design and delivery challenges that remain
- the increasingly tight timetable
- reduced staffing in the Dept’s core team
Crucially, the report also expresses concerns that
- pressures arising from the tight deadline could result in a scheme that has not been fully tested
- the Dept has not examined in detail whether the current scheme – in which authorities retain 50% of business rates – has succeeded in promoting pro-growth behaviour from local authorities