Support for Business

That the Parliament notes that there has been a stark increase in appeals to valuation boards over non-domestic rates following the 2010 revaluation, with approximately 30% of businesses appealing the new rates; believes that the increase in appeals reflects the fact that a lack of transitional relief has caused serious cash-flow problems for businesses and concerns that jobs will be lost; shares the view of the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce that small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) support is not a substitute for transitional relief for the hardest hit; notes that the Scottish Government’s net income from non-domestic rates has increased by £150 million following the revaluation, despite Scottish ministers’ claims that the revaluation is revenue neutral, and calls on the Scottish Government to work constructively with Scotland’s business community to agree and deliver a transitional rates relief scheme and to identify ways in which to improve the revaluation process for the future.