New Deal for Business Non-Domestic Rates Sub-Group minutes: 13 September 2023

Attendees and apologies

• Liz Cameron, Scottish Chambers of Commerce (Business Lead)
• Mark Boyd, North Ayrshire Council
• Pete Cheema, Scottish Grocer’s Federation
• Martin Clarkson, Gerald Eve
• Marc Crothall, Scottish Tourism Alliance
• Stacey Dingwall, Federation of Small Business Scotland
• Jim Doig, Scottish Assessors Association
• Heather Honeyman, Scottish Assessors Association
• David Lonsdale, Scottish Retail Consortium
• David Melhuish, Scottish Property Federation
• Stephen Montgomery, Scottish Hospitality Group
• Alan Puckrin, Local Authority Directors of Finance
• Les Robertson, Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation
• Brian Rogan, CBRE
• Leon Thompson, UKHospitality Scotland
• Paul Togneri, Scottish Beer and Pub Association
• Pete Wildman, Scottish Assessors Association
• Colin Wilkinson, Scottish Licensed Trade Association

Scottish Government

• Tom Arthur, Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance (Chair)
• Ellen Leaver, Deputy Director, Local Government and Analytical Services Division
• Scottish Government Officials

Apologies

• Jonathan Sharma, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions

The Minister welcomed members to the meeting including Dr Pete Cheema OBE of the Scottish Grocers Federation who had joined the subgroup since the last meeting.

The Minister thanked members for their input to the NDR content in the New Deal for Business progress report which was published on 29 June and noted that the First Minister has accepted the recommendations of the report. He stated the New Deal for Business Group’s next meeting is scheduled for 27 September to agree an Implementation and Delivery Plan.

He noted the progress to date on the subgroup’s recommendations, including the extension of the deadline to lodge proposals and the first meeting of the Tax Advisory Group. He also reminded members of the objective of the subgroup to explore how NDR can best support business growth, investment and competitiveness whilst making a fair contribution to public services.

Liz Cameron gave an overview of the first meeting of the Tax Advisory Group which will look at the landscape of taxes in Scotland, and how the income from them is spent (including reliefs). She reported that she had recently received revised terms of reference. The group discussed the importance of the definition of taxes (levies, fees, etc).

Colin Wilkinson reported concerns that Scottish Government could consider conditionality (e.g. payment of living wage) in eligibility criteria for reliefs and the negative impact this could have for businesses. The Minister advised that there were various calls on Government regarding conditionality which require detailed consideration, and that the comments raised within the group have been noted. He also advised that the meeting on 3 October on the budget may be an appropriate forum to discuss these matters.

Forward work programme and action plan

Liz Cameron thanked members for their input and comments provided on the action plan before the meeting and members were invited to discuss the forward approach of the group.

There was general agreement to the establishment of focussed task teams to be set up with the appropriate expertise which would report back to the wider subgroup.

Martin Clarkson stated that some of the timelines in the action plan may required to be pushed out, e.g. the review of Empty Property Relief as it is too early to gauge the impact of individual councils’ changes to this relief. He advised he would wish to join the task team looking at the transparency of valuation notices.

He also noted that the number of proposals submitted for the 2023 revaluation was lower than the number of appeals at previous cycles and asked for information on how many of the submitted proposals came from unrepresented ratepayers as there was a feeling that the new system excludes lay ratepayers.

Pete Wildman advised that the Scottish Assessors Association can provide some statistics on proposals. He offered to draft a paper on existing communication channels for Task Team 1 and noted that the appropriate route for appeals to valuation methodologies is through the independent proposal route and ultimately appeals to the courts. There is limited ability for the subgroup to influence this process.

Les Robertson noted that COSLA’s overarching position is that NDR policy should be devolved to local authorities. He reported that most councils are considering their Empty Property Relief policies ahead of 2024-25 with a view of using this lever to bring empty properties back into use and he will reach out to councils and collate their proposals on this relief. He advised that he will ask his colleagues in the Institute for Revenues, Rating and Valuation for views and comments on the subgroup’s papers.

The Minister thanked members and officials for the work on the action plan over summer, and for the volunteers to be included on task teams. Members were asked to provide any additional feedback or nominations for task teams by close of play on Monday 18 September.

New Deal for Business Group implementation plan

The Minister noted that the New Deal for Business Group will next meet on 27 September to agree an implementation and delivery plan. Members were asked to consider the suggested wording shared in the implementation plan paper issued alongside the meeting papers, and to send any written comments to the Scottish Government by close of play Monday 18 September.

Next steps

The Minister reminded members that the next meeting of the subgroup is scheduled for 3 October in response to their request to meet before budget. He asked that members share their asks for Budget 2024-25 in writing by Friday 29 September ahead of that meeting.