This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/oct/31/retail-high-street-rochdale
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Topsy turvy business rates world where north pays for south | Topsy turvy business rates world where north pays for south |
| (4 months later) | |
| It was meant to go unnoticed, slipped in without warning and without consultation. But, in the same way you wouldn't expect an elephant to go unnoticed in a nursery, Clause 22 of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill didn't take long to spot and created similar levels of panic. | It was meant to go unnoticed, slipped in without warning and without consultation. But, in the same way you wouldn't expect an elephant to go unnoticed in a nursery, Clause 22 of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill didn't take long to spot and created similar levels of panic. |
| It's "nothing short of a scandal," howled property agents Colliers. It "embeds injustices in the current system," raged the British Property Federation and it'll have a "very negative impact on the high street," warned the British Council of Shopping Centres. | It's "nothing short of a scandal," howled property agents Colliers. It "embeds injustices in the current system," raged the British Property Federation and it'll have a "very negative impact on the high street," warned the British Council of Shopping Centres. |
| They were talking about the Government's proposals to cancel next year's business rates revaluation, a decision that will see small struggling businesses forced to pay taxes against 2008 evaluations, made near the peak of the property boom, up to 2017. | They were talking about the Government's proposals to cancel next year's business rates revaluation, a decision that will see small struggling businesses forced to pay taxes against 2008 evaluations, made near the peak of the property boom, up to 2017. |
| Ministers, somewhat unconvincingly, claim this will provide "stability" for the high street. One even compared it to having a "fixed rate mortgage". The problem is in my constituency – and no doubt many others - some commercial property values have fallen by up to 40 per cent since 2008. So who would want to be on a fixed rate mortgage for nine years on an exorbitant rate? | Ministers, somewhat unconvincingly, claim this will provide "stability" for the high street. One even compared it to having a "fixed rate mortgage". The problem is in my constituency – and no doubt many others - some commercial property values have fallen by up to 40 per cent since 2008. So who would want to be on a fixed rate mortgage for nine years on an exorbitant rate? |
| My colleague Ann Coffey, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Retail Group, has dubbed the plans the "retail equivalent of the poll tax". In this sector business rates are already becoming Britain's most hated tax even before the Government moved to rig the system to maximise income for a further two years. | My colleague Ann Coffey, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Retail Group, has dubbed the plans the "retail equivalent of the poll tax". In this sector business rates are already becoming Britain's most hated tax even before the Government moved to rig the system to maximise income for a further two years. |
| Retailers can see what's going on and know that ministers have surrendered to Treasury bean counters. They view the high street as simply a cash cow that can be squeezed to death. The consequences of businesses having to pay excessively high business rates, that have no bearing on their property rental values, will be that many are taxed off the high street. | Retailers can see what's going on and know that ministers have surrendered to Treasury bean counters. They view the high street as simply a cash cow that can be squeezed to death. The consequences of businesses having to pay excessively high business rates, that have no bearing on their property rental values, will be that many are taxed off the high street. |
| Yesterday at a Westminster Hall debate on business rates I asked the local government minister promoting these daft proposals, Brandon Lewis, how many businesses would pay less tax if next year's review were to go ahead. He claimed around 300,000 but that's a conservative estimate and the real number could easily be more than double that. | Yesterday at a Westminster Hall debate on business rates I asked the local government minister promoting these daft proposals, Brandon Lewis, how many businesses would pay less tax if next year's review were to go ahead. He claimed around 300,000 but that's a conservative estimate and the real number could easily be more than double that. |
| Just think; hundreds of thousands of businesses having to pay higher business rates simply to subsidise Bond Street and other parts of the South East that the Tories don't want to face rates rises one month before a General Election when the new rates come into force in April 2015. | Just think; hundreds of thousands of businesses having to pay higher business rates simply to subsidise Bond Street and other parts of the South East that the Tories don't want to face rates rises one month before a General Election when the new rates come into force in April 2015. |
| Richard Farr, of Sanderson Weatherall chartered surveyors, hits the nail on the head in Newcastle's Journal, saying: | Richard Farr, of Sanderson Weatherall chartered surveyors, hits the nail on the head in Newcastle's Journal, saying: |
| Those in lucrative locations such as London and the South East, where rental values have increased, will benefit from the move while hard-hit retailers in Northern cities and elsewhere will continue to be suffocated by being charged business rates based on pre-recession values. | Those in lucrative locations such as London and the South East, where rental values have increased, will benefit from the move while hard-hit retailers in Northern cities and elsewhere will continue to be suffocated by being charged business rates based on pre-recession values. |
Earlier this week, I heard Bill Clinton campaigning for Obama say that Romney "ties himself in more knots than a Boy Scout in a knot tying contest". Brandon Lewis goes further, getting himself tangled in a total skein of confusion. | Earlier this week, I heard Bill Clinton campaigning for Obama say that Romney "ties himself in more knots than a Boy Scout in a knot tying contest". Brandon Lewis goes further, getting himself tangled in a total skein of confusion. |
| His argument about stability flies in the face of what retailers want, and ignores the fact that Government is supposed to have a transitional relief system to deal with this. He also trots out the usual Government rhetoric of backing the Portas Review, which ignores Mary's key recommendation on considering whether business rates can better support small businesses and independent traders. Ministers have done the complete opposite. It's no wonder Mary Portas is now telling industry conferences she fears her Review may have been a "Government PR stunt". | His argument about stability flies in the face of what retailers want, and ignores the fact that Government is supposed to have a transitional relief system to deal with this. He also trots out the usual Government rhetoric of backing the Portas Review, which ignores Mary's key recommendation on considering whether business rates can better support small businesses and independent traders. Ministers have done the complete opposite. It's no wonder Mary Portas is now telling industry conferences she fears her Review may have been a "Government PR stunt". |
| Ministers like Lewis say business rates are the third biggest outgoing after rent and staff costs. But in many cases they've overtaken rent. The chief executive of Timpson, the shoe repair business, said earlier this month he'd looked at opening a new site in Stockport but annual business rates at £18,000 were nearly twice the level of rent at £10,000. | Ministers like Lewis say business rates are the third biggest outgoing after rent and staff costs. But in many cases they've overtaken rent. The chief executive of Timpson, the shoe repair business, said earlier this month he'd looked at opening a new site in Stockport but annual business rates at £18,000 were nearly twice the level of rent at £10,000. |
| He argues: | He argues: |
| Business rates have got completely out of hand. It's become a real stifler and is stopping businesses from taking more space and trying new things. | Business rates have got completely out of hand. It's become a real stifler and is stopping businesses from taking more space and trying new things. |
Writing on the Conservative Home website last month, Lewis, clearly preaching what he doesn't practice, said in the spirit of localism and Whitehall-doesn't-know-best, that, "I want to make myself obsolete". I don't have a problem with him making himself obsolete, but I do have a problem with him and his Government making the high street obsolete. | Writing on the Conservative Home website last month, Lewis, clearly preaching what he doesn't practice, said in the spirit of localism and Whitehall-doesn't-know-best, that, "I want to make myself obsolete". I don't have a problem with him making himself obsolete, but I do have a problem with him and his Government making the high street obsolete. |
| Ahead of yesterday's debate, many businesses contacted me to say they were dead against ministers' plans to postpone next year's much-needed rates revaluation. I've yet to hear anyone in favour of it. | Ahead of yesterday's debate, many businesses contacted me to say they were dead against ministers' plans to postpone next year's much-needed rates revaluation. I've yet to hear anyone in favour of it. |
| Ministers have had no consultation with business, no detailed discussions about how the policy might affect economic growth and given no consideration to how the policy might prevent rebalancing the economy along geographical lines. | Ministers have had no consultation with business, no detailed discussions about how the policy might affect economic growth and given no consideration to how the policy might prevent rebalancing the economy along geographical lines. |
| This is no way to do Government. Businesses don't want an out of touch Government telling them they'll have to pay unfair taxes regardless, they want someone on their side who's prepared to fight for a system that takes a fair proportion of taxes and gives businesses the breathing space and support to grow and lead a proper, sustainable recovery. | This is no way to do Government. Businesses don't want an out of touch Government telling them they'll have to pay unfair taxes regardless, they want someone on their side who's prepared to fight for a system that takes a fair proportion of taxes and gives businesses the breathing space and support to grow and lead a proper, sustainable recovery. |
| Simon Danczuk is Labour MP for Rochdale and Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Shadow Business Secretary, Chuka Umunna. | Simon Danczuk is Labour MP for Rochdale and Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Shadow Business Secretary, Chuka Umunna. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |