Issue - meetings

Report of the Chief Executive on the Business Rates Pooling arrangement for 2022/23.

Cabinet agreed to give delegated authority to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Executive Member for Resources, to submit an application for the 2022/23 Business Rates Pooling arrangement for Hertfordshire, if after full consideration, there is a financial case for doing so.

Report of the Chief Executive on the Business Rates Pooling arrangement for 2022/23.

(1)       The Decision Taken

RESOLVED:

(unanimous)

Cabinet agreed to give delegated authority to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Executive Member for Resources, to submit an application for the 2022/23 Business Rates Pooling arrangement for Hertfordshire, if after full consideration, there is a financial case for doing so.

(2)       Reasons for the Decision

Membership of a business rates pooling scheme can be an advantage for a local authority, as it allows 50%, rather than 20%, of business rate growth to be retained by members of the pooling group.

That said, selection for membership of a pool depended upon being one of the authorities that collectively gave the greatest gain to the pool as a whole.

There was never any guarantee that a pool would be viable as a whole in Hertfordshire, or that Welwyn Hatfield would qualify for inclusion.

Welwyn Hatfield was a member of a Hertfordshire pool in 2020/21, but was not selected for 2021/22, the current year.

Whilst there was no guarantee of success, inclusion would be financially beneficial, and there was nothing to lose by applying.  The application deadline was 8 October 2021.