Ipswich Borough Council no longer able to keep tax relief at same levels as cuts backed

An authority is no longer able to keep its tax relief rates at the same levels, a councillor has said as cuts were backed by leaders.

Cllr Martin Cook proposed cuts to the council's discretionary business rate relief policy during yesterday evening's meeting of Ipswich's executive members.

He revealed 68 organisations across the town would see relief reduced by an average £691 per year as a result.

Cllr Cook said: “We do recognise this will have an impact on the organisations concerned, but it is simply the case that the financial pressures on the council mean it is not possible for us to sustain these reliefs at this level any longer."

The proposals included reducing 'top-up' awards from 20 per cent to 10 per cent and removing the relief entirely for private nurseries, academies, free, grant-maintained, faith or trust schools, as well as shops run by national charities.

Sport clubs top-ups would be limited to £5,000 while organisations not eligible for mandatory relief would be limited to £4,000 of discretionary council help.

The changes are part of the authority's efforts to cover its £23 million funding gap and are expected to save £47,000 per year, or £188,000 over the next four years.

Council papers stated the authority recognised the support the reliefs provided, but it could no longer pick up the bill, particularly as business rate write-offs had to be approved.

During the same meeting, councillors agreed to write-off over £700,000 worth of business rates, largely due to companies exploiting legal loopholes.