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1. The government extended the Retail,
Hospitality and Leisure Scheme for another year.
This is an extension of previous year retail schemes. It is for one
year only and gives a reduction of 75% business rates to ratepayers
meeting all the criteria including a financial cap of
£110,000 and subsidy control rules.

Guildford Borough Council will grant Retail Hospitality &
Leisure Relief in the form of discretionary rate relief under S47
of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, in accordance with the
criteria that the government has set out at
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/business-rates-relief-202425-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-scheme

2. The Non Domestic Rating Act 2023 received royal assent in the
autumn. It restated a lot of the legislation around discretionary
rate relief, but made two significant changes:
i. Businesses qualifying for mandatory rural rate relief will from
1 April 2024 receive 100% relief instead of the previous 50%. These
businesses will no longer be eligible for discretionary
relief
ii The restriction on backdating discretionary rate relief has been
removed from the legislation. It previously stated that we could
not make a decision more than six months after the end of the
financial year in which the day falls. As of 1 April 2024 we can
back date to 1 April 2023.
Our Discretionary Rate Relief Scheme Guidelines have been amended
to reflect the change in legislation and to point applicants to the
latest version of the Council’s strategic framework. The
underlying guidelines remain unchanged.