Government criticised for not listening over business rates

The government's report into the future of business rates has been called a sham by critics who argue that ministers didn't take any advice from businesses and representatives. Officials also failed to speak to Dutch counterparts despite being told by experts that the system in the Netherlands is similar and where business rate revaluations have been held yearly since 1997. Ruud Kathmann, of the Netherlands Council for Real Estate Assessment, said of the reform: "By a more frequent revaluation the differences between the previous assessed value and the new one would become smaller and that is easier to explain. Therefore we also expected a lower number of appeals." A report by the British Property Federation has called on ministers to learn lessons from overseas. Paul Turner-Mitchell, who wrote the report, said: "Businesses are getting fed up with the Government constantly asking for their opinions on how to create a simpler system and then ignoring the advice. The perfect example to learn from, yet the authorities didn't bother even making a phone call."