A row is brewing over the government's reforms to business rates appeals

摘要

The height of summer is always a good time for the government to sneak out bad news, and this August was no exception. As part of its reform of business rates appeals -the move to the so-called 'check, challenge, appeal' system (see overleaf) - last week the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) published a consultation on the regulations that will support the new regime. The wider reforms are already deeply unpopular among business rates specialists, and now one of the regulations proposed in the new consultation has prompted renewed howls of anger.