Administrative improvements to the system
The Business Rates Review also identified a number of changes which can be made to simplify and improve the business rates system. These were outlined in chapter 6 of the technical consultation in November 2021. Some of these required changes to primary legislation and are, therefore, included in the Act:
Moving the powers for the Secretary of State to manage the contents of the central rating list in England from regulations to directions. Under the prior arrangements, the Secretary of State was obliged to make minor administrative regulations merely to maintain the accuracy of the central rating list. Regulations were needed when, for example; a company on the central list sells its assets to another company; or where a new company joins the central rating list. The powers of direction will be used in place of the existing regulation powers and allow for faster and more efficient operation of the central rating list. The provisions in the Act replicate those in clause 11 of the Local Government Finance Bill in the 2016/17 session which did not reach Royal Assent. The Act also makes provision for charitable relief in England and Wales and unoccupied property relief in England to be available on the central rating list (a similar measure was also part of the Local Government Finance Bill in the 2016/17 session at clause 10).
Simplification of local discretionary rate relief in England. The powers for billing authorities to award discretionary relief were significantly widened as part of the devolution reforms contained in the Localism Act 2011. However, these reforms left in legislation a restriction on applying or changing discretionary relief decisions six months after the end of the financial year. The Act removes this restriction leaving local authorities to decide whether and when to award retrospective discretionary relief in their areas.
Closing a lacuna in the completion notice procedure in England. The Act enables billing authorities to serve a completion notice on refurbished buildings (which were previously included in the list but were removed) and return them to the list, using the same completion notice procedure as for new buildings.
Improving the administration of the multiplier. The Act allows the government to ensure annual increases in the small business multiplier and the national non-domestic multiplier in England are automatically linked to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rather than the Retail Prices Index (RPI). This is something which has been government policy for several years and is currently delivered through an annual statutory instrument. The Act allows the government to provide by regulations that either multiplier is indexed by a figure less than CPI in England. And the Act also allows the government to determine by regulations which ratepayers are entitled to the small business multiplier in England.
	Also, the Act addresses a technical flaw in the legislation governing the main non-domestic rating account in England. The purpose of that account is to show how much business rates income has been paid by local authorities to the government; how much has been used as part of the Business Rates Retention Scheme (BRRS); and how much has been used to finance other grants to local government. The original legislation contained an error and as a result the government was unable to debit from the account all the actual amounts that had been paid to local government. The account therefore erroneously showed a credit – despite this money having already been passed to local government. The Act corrects this error, and allows for the removal of this erroneous credit and ensure that, in future, the account transparently and accurately records the amounts that have been received and paid by the government, as originally intended.