Chamber and committees

We have recently introduced new building regulations to deliver a 30 per cent reduction in CO₂ emissions from new buildings and in many cases, compliance will involve use of renewable technologies.

We have provided some £13.5 million over the last two years to fund our Community and Renewable Energy scheme which provides free and independent advice as well as grants. Community based not-for-profit organisations, including local authorities and other public bodies, are eligible.

With Scottish Government funding, the Carbon Trust provides energy efficiency and emissions saving support to the public sector in Scotland. This includes advice on the installation of renewables technologies, where appropriate. In addition, the Central Energy Efficiency Fund continues to provides interest-free loans for local authorities, NHS boards and Scottish Water to invest in energy saving and renewables measures.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/917/0098553.pdf.

The report showed the overall cost of a cap at this level, before appeals and reliefs are taken into account, would be around £194 million in 2010-11. To offset the cost would have meant increasing the bills for almost 99,000 properties by a total of £136million. The remaining shortfall of £58 million would have been funded by the Scottish Government. A relief scheme along these lines would have had the further result of shifting £77 million in business rates from largely public sector and large statutory undertakings onto small and medium enterprises and high street properties.

At the time the analysis was carried out for the May report, it was based on rateable values existing at 1 April (the date of the revaluation). The example of a 12.5% cap was illustrated because that is the level traditionally applied for transitional relief (it is, for example, the level that currently applies in England). In the period since then, the basis of the model has shifted as valuation appeals have begun to be settled. It will increasingly shift further as the appeal process gathers pace. Some of the resulting changes are already quite significant. As a result, it would now be misleading to model alternative rate caps using rateable values based on the information that existed at April 2010 which is out of date and therefore no longer valid.

The Scottish Government guarantees each local authority a combination of distributable business rates plus general revenue grant. The total amount to be funded is calculated on the basis of assessed need in each local authority area. The amount of business rates raised locally therefore has no effect on the total guaranteed funding.

Business Rate Income Distributed 2009-10

Note: The figures above are taken from the relevant annual local government finance circular issued by the Scottish Government.