Can Poor Communities Be Protected in Rates Shake-Up?

Summary

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"From each, according to his ability; to each according to his needs" is one of the economic principles of Marxism. And a slightly skewed version of Karl Marx's vision of equality has been applied for decades to the way business rates operate, with councils ordered to hand over all their takings to Whitehall, who then hand back a proportion of the funds on the basis of "need".

It sounds unfair, until you realise that if councils were allowed to keep every penny raised by charging business rates to companies in their areas wealthy authorities like Westminster City Council, which operates in one of the most expensive areas of the world, would have billions to lavish on its ratepayers while areas like Cornwall would struggle to operate any services at all.

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Can Poor Communities Be Protected in Rates Shake-Up?

So deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg's plan to overhaul the way business rates are raised and spent, will be very close...

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