Measure to be looked at in future budgets

A Scottish Government spokesman said the rate of the large business supplement would be considered at future budgets.

“We recently accepted the vast majority of the recommendations of the Barclay Review of non-domestic rates, going beyond Barclay with additional pro-growth measures in a package widely welcomed by business,” the spokesman said.

“We will consider the large business supplement at future budgets in line with the timetable suggested by Barclay, while continuing to provide the most competitive rates relief in the UK, including the small business bonus scheme which alone lifts 100,000 properties out of rates altogether and has saved firms well over a billion pounds since its introduction.”

Conservative North East MSP Bill Bowman described the large business levy as a “tax on ambition” and called for its restoration to 1.3p in the pound as soon as possible.

He said: “The large business supplement is a millstone around the necks of many enterprises and a drag on the economy. There has been no commitment to reducing the supplement in line with the UK, other than ‘when it is affordable’.

Mr Bowman added: “In September, I asked the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted regarding a timescale for reducing the Large Business Supplement during the current parliamentary session,” he said.

“The SNP finance secretary Derek Mackay said that, following the recommendation in the Barclay report for the large business supplement to be reduced, the Scottish Government will consider this, should it become affordable, in the context of future years’ budgets.”

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay.