Mr Brown: "Labour will retain the
uniform business rate.
Mr Brown was praised by businessmen after he revealed Labour would not interfere with the
uniform business rate in the Scottish Parliament.
Parliament passes the restructuring of local government finance in England and Wales with effect from April (following its implementation in Scotland a year earlier), including the replacement of domestic property levies by a community charge on adults and of business tax levies by a
uniform business rate (with a five-year transitional period).
"The Welsh Government has the opportunity to consider a similar move to increase Small Business Rate Relief and change the indexation of the
Uniform Business Rate from RPI to the lower CPI, as recommended by the independent Business Rates Panel in 2015."
"Not only will local authorities be able to keep the monies raised by business rates, they will also be able to adopt their own rate poundage as the
uniform business rate, which was introduced on 1 April 1990, is to be abolished.
In the early 1990s the
Uniform Business Rate was created.
"This is achieved via the
Uniform Business Rate (UBR), the multiplier applied to RVs to calculate rates payable.
In a second blow, the new
Uniform Business Rate multiplier is set to increase by almost 4.6% from 41.4p to 43.3p for most properties.
As business rate bills are calculated by multiplying the rateable value of a property by the
Uniform Business Rate (UBR), expected changes in the UBR should have also been a welcome relief for businesses in the north.
If Mr Darling's distinctive black eyebrows are rising at this proposal, he should be reminded that he has already agreed to spread a 5% rise in the
Uniform Business Rate over three years.
The rateable value,
Uniform Business Rate and transitional relief all form part of the business rates equation.
But Ruth Lea, of the Institute of Directors, said: "Business will be very concerned at any attempt to raise more taxes and use the
Uniform Business Rate as a milk cow for local authorities." Tory local government spokesman Eric Pickles said: "The Government are panicking because they have been rumbled.