It comes on the back of the Government announcing a 12 month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England.
All new bills for businesses that qualify for the relief should be issued by the end of April.
The Council has also provided further support by taking the following steps in relation to the recovery of business rates across all sectors:
- suspending court action for recovery of business rates
- issuing reminder notices to encourage contact from businesses, so that we can understand their individual situation
- suspending the issue of new cases for enforcement agent action
- negotiating repayments where possible and/or agree to a hold in recovery action for a period where businesses are struggling
Councillor Harman Banger, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “The coronavirus outbreak is having a major impact on our city businesses.
“Various Government measures have been put in place to support them during this difficult time and we are ensuring they receive these benefits swiftly to help ease the pressure they are feeling.
“We have also taken extra steps as a Council to help protect our business community now and give them the best chance of recovery in the long term.
“Rest assured, we will make sure every business is supported in whichever way possible.”
The Council’s Business Rates Team is dealing with a high volume of contact from businesses regarding eligibility to business rates relief and business grants - and from businesses who had not previously notified the Council of being in occupation. Enquiries are being dealt with as quickly as possible.
