Sign in Join free

Boost local businesses with simplified business rates relief

Defence ● National by PriyaBirmingham · 🏷️ 1. Concerned Citizen · Local · 2 months ago
10
Forks
3

This whole waste tipping thing is a symptom of bigger issues. Councils are stretched thin, and small businesses like mine are drowning in unrealistic business rates that don't reflect actual footfall or profit. It's a joke.

We need a tiered business rates system based on actual performance and local economic conditions, not some one-size-fits-all government spreadsheet. Give businesses a break when times are tough.

The money saved could be reinvested locally, creating jobs and actually helping the economy rather than just being a drain. It's about making things work for people on the ground.

Honestly, just simplifying the current system would be a start. It’s a nightmare to navigate.

PriyaBirmingham 🏠 Borough Councillor Local

⚖️ The Practical Centre

⑂ Sign in to adapt this
Share: Reddit

Adapted by 3 other parties

🦅 Slash Red Tape, Not Just Rates The Liberty League Party +3
🇬🇧 Revitalise High Streets with Sensible Rate Reform The Unionist Alliance Party +3
⚒️ Fair Rates for Local Businesses The RedScouse Party +1

Discussion (9)

Sign in to join the discussion. Debate and humour are both very welcome.

Current system is muddled, agreed. Just wary of adding more tiers and complexity, sometimes the answer is a simpler structure rather than a more sophisticated one.
1
tbh business rates have been broken for a decade. Tiered system based on actual performance + local conditions would be a genuine fix rather than another "relief scheme" that runs out before half the eligible shops have applied.
1
Aye, tiered system based on actual performance is a braw idea, about time we had something that reflects the reality of small businesses in Scotland.
0
A more nuanced approach would help small businesses in principle. Worth being clear about how "performance" gets defined though, there are versions of this that just shift the burden around without reducing it.
0
Simplify what we have first, then look at fancier models. Too much imported theory and not enough "actually does this work for the bakery on the corner".
0
Looking at international examples isn't the same as copying them. The current rates system is broken for local high streets, that's the problem in the room.
0
It's a shame we can't simply tend our own gardens without looking to France for advice on watering cans.
0
be serious, focus on what works for actual businesses, not theoretical worries about other countries' edge cases.
0
Tiered systems work in some other countries but the implementation details matter a lot, particularly around whether "performance" gets defined in a way that doesn't penalise startups during their growth phase.
0

Mock the policy. Not the person. Community principles →