County Council calls for "an urgent national review of local government funding" as "thousands of small businesses are set to be hammered by a rise in business rates"

Back in 2015, central government announced it would be changing how local government would be financed:
Osborne scraps core grant and allows councils to keep business rates | Public Finance
Business rates retention | Local Government Association

It's all about local government becoming 'self-sufficient':
Self-sufficient local government: 100% Business Rates Retention

This explanation is from the latest Bristol Post:

From April the West of England is going to take part in a pilot scheme to keep all the business rates raised in the region.The Government is committed to giving 100 per cent of business rate revenue to councils by the end of the current Parliament. Currently councils in England get to keep half of the money while the rest is pooled and then redistributed by Whitehall.It won't mean they get any extra money because the Government will phase out some top-ups given to local councils.

From next year businesses will find their rates will change.The Government usually tweaks the property valuations that ultimately are used to calculate business rates every five years, although this latest one was controversially postponed for two years.

Bristol to raise £205m in business rates, but Government insists revaluation is 'revenue neutral' | Bristol Post

And by 'change' in business rates we mean rises - and the Mail highlights the problems for one Sidmouth business:

Tax raid that could hike the price of YOUR holiday: B&Bs, cottages and seaside hotels to be hit by business rates reforms

Thousands of guesthouses in popular tourist spots face soaring bills

By LOUISE ECCLES FOR THE DAILY MAIL 7 February 2017 

Analysis of 40,000 self-catering cottages across the UK shows the average four-cottage business will be hit with a 58 per cent increase in rates. Businesses with six cottages faces a 71 per cent increase, according to the South West Tourism Alliance. It can take two-and-a-half years to get an answer after appealing against these hikes.

Alistair Handyside, 59, of the tourism body, owns three self-catering cottages called Higher Wiscombe with his wife Lorna, 56, in Stoneleigh, East Devon. He faces paying £10,135 in business rates from April, up from £9,070. By the tax year 2021/2022 his bill will have soared to £14,728.

'I've spoken to people who have put their properties on the market because they will not make any money at all from April,' he says. 'I don't think the Valuation Office Agency has enough people to look at this properly, so they are making arbitrary decisions based on someone's accounts and profile, and seeing what they can get away with.'

Tax rise that could force B&Bs to hike prices this summer | This is Money

The front page of today's Mail has more:

Madness of new business rates: 500,000 small businesses, pubs, GPs' surgeries schools, colleges face extortionate rises while, guess what, internet bosses will be better off

Thousands of small businesses are to be hammered by a rise in business rates: They will pay thousands of pounds a year more under the ‘scandalous’ review

But in a sign of the growing madness of the new system, several major online firms such as Amazon and Sports Direct will actually benefit from a tax cut
New figures suggest the Treasury will rake in more than £1billion extra next year

By LOUISE ECCLES and DANIEL MARTIN and JAMES SALMON FOR THE DAILY MAIL 15 February 2017

Small firms will be hammered by the shake-up of a rates regime that will earn the Treasury £1billion more next year.

The first revaluation of the business levy in seven years will force 500,000 traders to pay more.

Some pubs, shops and nurseries face 300 per cent hikes. Even schools, GP surgeries and colleges are being hit. MPs said it was scandalous that independent traders were being punished while online giants such as Amazon get a rates cut.

Business leaders urged ministers to scrap the new charges, which come into force from April.

Small businesses face extortionate rates rises | Daily Mail Online

The latest Western Morning News/Plymouth Herald reports on how the West Country is responding:

Rural business rate rise warning taken to Westminster

By WMNHFinch | Posted: February 14, 2017

The plight of rural enterprises facing hefty hikes in business rates has been taken to Westminster. Tim Jones, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council has met with senior civil servants at DEFRA to warn that rises in business rates could ruin the rural economy.

He said: "Our civil servants know that this is going to be a huge issue but the question is how many of our politicians are aware? The last thing we want is for rural businesses to become a victim of badly thought out policies."

The re-assessment of rateable values, which takes effect from April, are expected to hit rural businesses particularly hard. Business rates are usually recalculated every five years but a delay means that they will be adjusted to reflect seven years of changes in property prices.

The Department of Communities and Local Government claims that no small business will see an increase of more than five per cent this year and that £3.6 billion is being spent on relief.

Rural business rate rise warning taken to Westminster | Plymouth Herald

And today's Express & Echo reports how the County is reacting:

Devon County Council leaders calls for urgent Government review of council funding

By DanielClark | Posted: February 16, 2017

THE LEADER of Devon County Council is calling for an urgent national review of local government funding. Council leader John Hart said the county's budget had been cut by more than £267 million over the last seven years to meet Government austerity targets.

“This reduction has a very serious effect on the ability of this council to offer services to the people of Devon," he said.

The future funding of services was uncertain because the Government was further reducing its grants and switching financial support to business rates but there was no clarity or certainty about how much that would generate.

“There is need for a serious review of local government funding as the increased demands now being put on local government are not being adequately funded by central Government," said Mr Hart.

Deputy leader and finance chief, John Clatworthy, said he fully backed the calls for a complete review of social care by central Government to ensure a more appropriate and sustainable means of funding in future years.

“Hopefully, everybody is at last waking up to the fact that increased life expectancy is creating a whole set of new problems to deal with and the Government needs to make more resources available," he said.

“It's no good the Government reducing support on one hand and expecting local government to raise the additional funds locally on the other."

Devon County Council leaders calls for urgent Government review of council funding | Exeter Express and Echo

Although the East Devon Watch blog is a little sanguine about where we are:

BUT THESE PEOPLE CAMPAIGNED ON A TICKET OF SUPPORTING THIS GOVERNMENT WITH CONTINUING AUSTERITY CUTS! SO WHY ARE THEY (A) SURPRISED AND (B) COMPLAINING?

“Devon County Council leaders calls for urgent Government review of council funding” | East Devon Watch

Of course, the higher the business rates, the more taxation for local authorities, as noted in a comment on the EDW site yesterday - with reference to the Leader of the District Council:

But of course with The Div in charge things are never going to stop there. His new plan is to keep council tax down by relying on business rates growth – in other words lots of new industrial estates (like Sidford) on top of all the new housing.

“Evidence” for housing need in the post-truth era | East Devon Watch
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