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<p>My rt. hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at the 2014 Autumn
Statement an extra £650 million of support for 2015-16 bills, bringing the total support
of 2013 and 2014 Autumn Statement polices to £1.4 billion. This help includes:</p><p>
</p><ul><li>doubling small business rate relief for a further year. In England, this
means an estimated 400,000 properties will pay no rates at all, while a further 200,000
properties will benefit from tapered relief;</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>a
2% cap on the increase of the small business rates multiplier. This is a continuation
of the 2% cap introduced in 2014-15 as part of Autumn Statement 2013 measures;</li></ul><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>increasing the temporary discount for shops, pubs and
restaurants with rateable values below £50,000 from £1,000 to £1,500 for 2015-16,
benefitting an estimated 200,000 properties in England; and</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><ul><li>extending the existing transitional relief scheme for two years for properties
with a rateable value up to and including £50,000.</li></ul><p> </p><p>These measures
are in addition to previous Autumn Statement measures that continue into 2015-16,
including:</p><p> </p><ul><li>a 50 per cent discount for 18 months to new occupants
of vacant shops;</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>allowing businesses to keep
their small business rate relief for a year where they take on an additional property;</li></ul><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>business rates relief for empty new builds; and</li></ul><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>allowing businesses to pay their business rate bills over
12 months, in order to assist with their cash flow.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Central Government
also now funds 50% of any local discount granted.</p><p>Table 1 (attached) shows the
estimated number of properties in 2015-16 within the Herefordshire Council boundary
that will benefit from business rates measures extended in this year’s autumn statement.
Table 2 (attached) presents this information for England as a whole.</p><p> </p><p>
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