The Secretary of State introduced the Local Government Finance Bill on 19 December. The Bill takes forward proposals designed to encourage local economic growth, reduce the financial deficit and drive decentralisation of control over local government finance.
This legislation represents a radical change to the local government finance system, which complements a wide package of financial measures that the Government is pursuing to support local authorities and local economies.
The Bill will:
Enable local authorities to retain a proportion of the business rates generated in their area, providing them with strong financial incentive for them to promote local economic growth.
Enable local authorities to carry out Tax Increment Finance, giving them the ability to undertake borrowing against future business rates growth, supported by the forecast tax increment that accrues from additional development.
Provide a framework for the localisation of support for council tax in England, which, alongside other council tax measures, will give councils increased financial autonomy and a greater stake in the economic future of their local area, while providing continuation of council tax support for the most vulnerable in society, including pensioners. The localisation of council tax support will enable the England share of an around £500m saving on expenditure across Great Britain to be realised.
Make changes to council tax rules to provide further flexibility on the council tax local authorities can charge on empty properties, and other small changes aimed at modernising the system.
Copyright © 2025 · All Rights Reserved · Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation
Warning: Undefined array key "User_id" in /home/irrvnet/public_html/forumalert/inc_footer.php on line 4