Scotland relief: businesses need reassurance now, in this third lockdown, that the Government still has their back and is invested in them – as the Scottish Government has done, chief executive of the Scottish Beer & Pub Association and the British Beer & Pub Association, Emma McClarkin, says Business rates relief will be extended for Scottish pubs for an initial three months as Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been urged to enable a further extension for all pubs.
Scotland s Finance Secretary Kate Forbes pledged to continue relief on non-domestic rates for an initial extra three months funded by money reimbursed by supermarkets.
Extending the measure further would require additional funding from the UK Government, she said.
The Scottish Government has extended the business rates holiday for hospitality, leisure and retail for three months in its latest Budget.
Following today’s announcement (28 January), First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that if UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivers an extension at his own upcoming Budget Holyrood will use any money Scotland gets to ‘go further’.
In March last year Sunak announced that he was giving all occupied retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England a 100% business rates holiday for 12 months during the 2020/21 financial year between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.
Robert Hayton, UK president of the real estate adviser Altus Group, says April cannot signal a return to pre-pandemic levels of business rates in England.