Issue - meetings

Following consideration of the officer report, appendices and

discussion, the Executive resolved to agree and recommend to Full Council:

1. That the Non-Domestic Rating Discretionary Rate Relief and Hardship policy is amended to prevent Private Schools from applying for assistance in anticipation of the changes to the Local Government Finance Act 1988. The recommended wording is to be found in Appendix D of the policy and states: ‘The ratepayer must not fall within the definition of a Private School. For business rates purposes, ‘Private Schools’ are defined by HM Treasury as schools at which full time education is provided for pupils of compulsory school age where fees are payable.’ 

2. To delegate authority to the Council’s Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Monitoring Officer to make any additional amendments as necessary to ensure the wording aligns with that Act once such amendments come into force.  

3. To reduce the relief percentage within the policy for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector for 2025/26 from 75% to 40% as a result of changes to Central Government policy. 

4. To end Local Newspaper Relief in line with Central Government policy. 

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Bill Revans, invited the Deputy Leader and the Lead Member for Finance, Procurement and Performance, Cllr Liz Leyshon, to introduce the report. Cllr Leyshon highlighted that the changes came in three parts: excluding private schools from discretionary rate relief in line with central government policy on private schools; reducing the relief percentage for hospitality and leisure; ending the local newspaper relief policy.

The Leader of the Council invited comments from Committee Members and other Members present, with officers providing responses as appropriate. Questions and points raised included: the impact on contractors providing leisure on the Council’s behalf; what do the changes mean for pubs and local communities; whether private schools that aren’t registered as charities would be impacted; the impact on retail and hospitality; whether there was monitoring of businesses that would be impacted and what routes there were for gathering feedback.

The Leader of the Council concluded the discussion and proceeded to a vote on the recommendations, which were agreed unanimously.

Following consideration of the officer report, appendices and

discussion, the Executive resolved to agree and recommend to Full Council:

1. That the Non-Domestic Rating Discretionary Rate Relief and Hardship policy is amended to prevent Private Schools from applying for assistance in anticipation of the changes to the Local Government Finance Act 1988. The recommended wording is to be found in Appendix D of the policy and states: ‘The ratepayer must not fall within the definition of a Private School. For business rates purposes, ‘Private Schools’ are defined by HM Treasury as schools at which full time education is provided for pupils of compulsory school age where fees are payable.’ 

2. To delegate authority to the Council’s Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Monitoring Officer to make any additional amendments as necessary to ensure the wording aligns with that Act once such amendments come into force.  

3. To reduce the relief percentage within the policy for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector for 2025/26 from 75% to 40% as a result of changes to Central Government policy. 

4. To end Local Newspaper Relief in line with Central Government policy.