Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Bill: business and regulatory impact assessment

Consultation

Within Government

The Local Government Finance and Analytical Services Division has worked closely with the following Scottish Government policy areas during the Bill development phase.

• Active Scotland Division
• Civil Law and Legal Division
• Culture and Historic Environment Division
• Equality, Human Rights and Third Sector Division
• Improvement, Attainment and Wellbeing Division
• More Homes Division
• Property Division
• Social Justice and Regeneration Division
• Workforce, Infrastructure and Reform Division

Public Consultation

Whilst the strategic direction of the reforms to the rating system has been set by the Barclay Review, the Scottish Government also ran a three month public consultation, Barclay Implementation: A consultation on non-domestic rates reform^[6] from 25 June to 17 September 2018 to seek views on the specific details of how the legislation underpinning several of the Barclay Review Report recommendations will work in a number of areas. Just under 150 responses were received and copies of non-confidential responses can be accessed through the Scottish Government Consultation Hub^[7]. ERS Newcastle carried out an independent analysis of all the responses received and their report has been published on the Scottish Government website.^[8] Following the public consultation, the Minster for Public Finance and Digital Economy undertook a more focussed consultation with key stakeholder groups including, amongst others, business representative organisations, independent schools, sports clubs, councils and built heritage bodies.

Business

To inform delivery of the Scottish Government's response to the Barclay Review Report, the Scottish Government convened a Barclay Implementation Advisory Group (BIAG) which includes representatives from key stakeholder groups including the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the Scottish Assessors Association (SAA), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the Confederation of British Industry Scotland (CBI Scotland), the Scottish Property Federation (SPF), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Rating Surveyors Association, the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation (IRRV), the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) and the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC).

BIAG met on six occasions between January and September 2018 to advise on the implementation details including the development of the legislative proposals. At its first meeting BIAG agreed to establish two sub-groups to consider non-domestic rates billing and non-domestic rates appeals. As at January 2019, the appeals sub-group and the billing sub-group had met eight and four times respectively. Both groups will continue to meet ahead of the next non-domestic rates revaluation which takes effect on 1 April 2022. BIAG will continue to meet at key stages throughout the Barclay Review implementation process.