INFORMATION FROM BOURNEMOUTH BOROUGH COUNCIL – DATED 10 AUGUST

From 1 October 2010 the Government will be implementing a 1 year temporary increase in the level of Small Business Rate Relief. It will be necessary for the Council to issue revised rate bills during September 2010 to reflect the reduction in the amount of the instalments due from 1 October 2010 for the remainder of this financial year. It is a requirement of the legislation that all instalments up to and including September 2010 should be paid under the present arrangements. It is expected that as result of implementing this increase in relief many accounts will have overpaid (not by a great amount) and that refunds will have to be made.

The SBRR scheme is being amended as follows:

For the period 1 April 2010 to 30 September 2010 (existing scheme)

Businesses with a rateable value of £6,000 and below get 50% relief. Businesses with a rateable value £6,000 to £11,999, relief decreases on a sliding scale between 50% and 0%.

For the period 1 October 2010 to 30 September 2011 (revised scheme)

Businesses with a rateable value of £6,000 and below get 100% relief. Businesses with a rateable value £6,000 to £11,999, relief decreases on a sliding scale between 100% and 0%.

From 1 October 2011 to 31 March 2015 scheme reverts back to scheme as for 1 April 2010 to 30 September 2010.

Our caseload is summarised as follows:

There are 2,268 properties with a rateable value of £6,000 or below - these will benefit from 100% relief 1 October 2010 to 30 September 2011. Should all of these ratepayers have paid their due instalments these are the accounts that will have slightly overpaid (i.e. they would have paid 6 of their 10 instalments) and refunds will be made.

There are 670 properties with a rateable value of £6,001 to £11,999 - these will subject to the additional relief on a sliding scale being applied 1 October 2010 to 30 September 2011. Some of these accounts will have slightly overpaid but the majority will have a reduced balance to pay and the bills issued in September 2010 will reflect the reduced instalments due from 1 October 2010.

The additional costs arising from the change in the levels of the scheme will be met by the Government and will not be met by the Council.

The changes to the SBRR scheme requires a significant update to our software which our suppliers are working on for the scheme to be implemented on time. We are not alone in this and all authorities are currently waiting for software upgrades.

In conclusion there are just under 3,000 properties involved and arrangements are in place to implement these changes during September 2010.