100% rates rise 100% ridiculous
‘Incensed’ business owners face closure or axeing jobs as bills double – and more Meanwhile, parliament buildings enjoy cuts to rates in move branded a‘kick in the teeth’
FURIOUS business owners last night hit out at an £800,000 rates reduction for the Scottish Parliament building – while their firms are hit with crippling rate hikes.
The Sunday Post can reveal the Holyrood parliament building will see its business rates tax reduced by more than 10% as part of a highly controversial shake-up critics are condemning as “a farce”.
But shops, companies and tourist attractions in the shadow of the building in Edinburgh will be hit with hefty rises in the business rates they must pay.
And some are facing a near- doubling of what they have to fork out, leading to fears that businesses which provide jobs and put money into the economy will go under.
Edinburgh Castle, Scotland’s flagship tourist attraction, is facing a 450% rise
Patrick Kavanagh is co-owner for the Leith Depot pub on Leith Walk – just a 20-minute walk from the parliament building. The pub, which only opened in November 2015, will see its rates bill soar by almost 100% – shooting up from £13,500 to £25,500.
A bewildered Mr Kavanagh said: “It’s a massive rise. It’s ridiculous. It’s got the potential of putting us out of business – that’s the reality of it. We are probably going to have to lose some full-time staff.”
Business leaders fear the tax revamp – which follows a review by independent assessors – will cost thousands of jobs across Scotland, forcing many small businesses and shops to close.
Company owners facing huge rises – some up to 620% – want the Scottish Government to step in and freeze the current rate until a review on the system is finished later this year.
Paul Waterson, chief executive of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, believes the nation’s already fragile pub economy will bear the brunt of the revaluation.
“There is no doubt it’s a scandal,” he said. “It’s an absolute farce.
“Our sector is the hardest- hit because of the way we’re being rated, but it is particularly galling to see government buildings’ rates going down when I’m fielding call after call from people telling me they’re going to have to shut because of this.
“It is incredibly unfair. A real kick in the teeth for businesses.”
Other government buildings in Edinburgh are in line for a rates cut, too – including at St Andrew’s House and Transport Scotland’s headquarters in Victoria Quay.
The revelation that the Scottish Parliament’s rates are dropping will fuel the mounting political row about the revaluation – which former First Minister Alex Salmond yesterday waded into.
In remarks which will add to pressure on his successor Nicola Sturgeon to shelve the rises, Mr Salmond said affected businesses had a “very legitimate case”.
He said: “Of course there’s an argument against some of the rates rises and of course people are feeling the hard edge of it.
“In times like this we need our businesses to feel wanted, to be able to grow, to be able to survive and to be able to prosper in the future.”
He added there was “genuine concern where huge increases seem to be applied following a time of economics which was quite different from the reality that we are experiencing now”.
Mr Salmond’s intervention followed stinging criticism of the new rates from highprofile SNP member Stewart Spence, owner of the five-star Marcliffe Hotel in Aberdeen.
Mr Spence’s hotel is facing a 25% rise and he called for a nationwide boycott of the new rates, saying he would refuse to pay any increases.
And Mr Spence directly criticised SNP finance secretary Derek Mackay – saying his predecessor John Swinney would have taken a different approach – and called for Ms Sturgeon to take action. He said: Nicola’s gone very quiet on the whole thing. I would rather she got involved.
“John Swinney would have discussed this with us. He would always ask people their opinions, whereas the current finance minister just isn’t interested in speaking to anyone.” Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser
said Derek Mackay had spent the last few weeks insisting nothing needed to be done on the business rates rises.
He said: “Now Alex Salmond says there is a legitimate case for action.
“If Derek Mackay won’t listen to thousands of affected firms, perhaps he will listen to his former boss.”
Mr Fraser added that it was wrong government properties and the Scottish Parliament building were seeing a rates cut while businesses nearby were being hit with higher bills.
He said: “The Scottish Government will be delighted to see their costs fall at several flagship properties, although this revelation will further incense the business community which is preparing for substantial increases.”
Meanwhile, an alliance of concerned business chiefs will this week
press Mr Mackay to take action. Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, the Scottish Tourism Association, Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Glasgow Restaurant Association and the chairman of the Glasgow Licensing Forum have all joined forces to call for the proposed changes to business rates to be scrapped.
The Glasgow Chamber of Commerce’s chief executive, Stuart Patrick, said: “All we are asking for is a level playing field which doesn’t pose further challenges for such an important industry.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The valuation of business properties is undertaken by independent assessors, funded by local councils, not the Scottish Government. Each council retains all the business rates revenue it collects, and it is for councils to apply rates reductions, on top of existing statutory
reliefs, as they see fit.”
There’s no doubt that it’s a scandal – an absolute farce