There were growing calls for a strategy on business rates in the UK, as the 1st April deadline for the end of rate relief approached.
The demands came as the Central London Alliance responded to the latest lockdown by asking the government for a “clear roadmap” to help London out of the current crisis.
Tony Matharu of the Central London Alliance commented: “Whilst we accept the overriding public health situation and that we are all responsible for playing our part in keeping infection numbers down, the government is also responsible for ensuring that every viable business obtains the support it needs, for as long as needed. Survival until Spring will be futile if businesses fail immediately thereafter, so the articulated support must continue.
“Businesses require longer-term certainty and continued support so that they can sustain jobs and livelihoods and play their vital role in helping London’s survival and the UK’s economic recovery.
“The government needs to provide a clear roadmap that will lead London out of this crisis. To help mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 enforced restrictions, this roadmap must include, as a minimum: Instant cash support to enable enterprises in hospitality and culture to survive and, equally importantly, continued support to assist recovery; an extension of the VAT cut to March 2022 for hospitality; an extension of the business rates holiday until at least March 2022 to help businesses plan their outgoings and mitigate the impact of loss of trade due to restriction and expansion of the grants programme delivered via councils, based on the number of businesses within a borough, rather than the number of residents.”
He added: “When London succeeds, so does the rest of the UK. A weakened London impairs the government’s articulated levelling up agenda. To the contrary, a successful, strong and stable London, without the shadow of uncertainty hanging over it, supports the government’s levelling up, its Building Back Better and its Global Britain agendas. Right now, London’s status as a global city, continuing to generate economic surplus, is at acute risk and any complacency that London will simply survive because it always has done, despite the worst economic recession for over 300 years, is dangerous and must be avoided.”
The comments on rates were echoed by John Webber, head of business rates at Colliers International, who warned that unless the government announced reliefs soon, Billing Authorities across the country would be getting bills ready to send. He said: “the last thing businesses need is for exorbitant business rates bills to be landing through their letterboxes in February and March”.
He added: “We had the deadline for the call for evidence for business rates reform on September 18th, 2020 and since then there has been no mention of any further business rates reliefs or holidays, and reform proposals have been kicked into the New Year. Now it’s the New Year, the start of a national lockdown and still no hint of a reprieve - and time is running out!”
Colliers International said that, in non-Covid times, Business Rates provided the government with a net tax take of about £26bn, of which the retail sector was the largest single sector, paying between a quarter and a third of the total tax bill. This was even though the gross value added by retail to the national economy was less than 10%, according to the ONS. Together with the hospitality sector, the tax contribution was well in excess of £12bn.
Webber said that the Chancellor must give hospitality sector some glimmers of “otherwise we’ll find them opening their stores purely to pick up a rates bill for 2021-2. It would be no surprise if they quickly shut the door again. And this time it could be permanently.”
Insight: Webber told us: “Yes this is an unusual situation and yes it’s difficult, but we’ve been in this for 12 months, so why don’t we give businesses another six months’ relief and that will be one less thing to worry about.
“There will be a significant number of businesses - food retailers, for example - who don’t need the relief, so why doesn’t the government say to businesses ‘if you want to claim the relief, claim it’ rather than giving it to everyone and then having some people give it back? It won’t be anywhere like the sum they needed to hand out before. But sitting there in silence isn’t good enough.”
That stress is a killer is not a learning. We were all fully aware and stroking puppies, taking deep breaths and remembering to power down our ‘phones before bed before All This.
One of the most important aspects of stress management was realising what was required and what was not - some, after all, is good for you. It’s what you do with it. But, much like the homemade liquor many of us will soon be turning to, everything in moderation.
In the UK, the government has shown that it is no good at managing the stress of the nation, or the stress of businesses. There really is enough to handle out there without all decisions being made at the very last moment by Rishi Sunak and his abacus wielders. After a year, there are no tethers left. It’s time for a strategy, please.