AROUND £10 million is still owed to Bradford Council in unpaid business rates, a report has revealed.

The figure is despite a collection rate over the past five years of around 96 per cent.

A report being presented to the Council’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee on Wednesday, April 26, by Stuart McKinnon-Evans, strategic director of corporate services, states the amount of business rates estimated for the district for the year 2016/17 amounted to £150 million, with just over £144 million of this actually received.

However, it is the cumulative arrears which make up the debt and the Council is constantly battling businesses who deliberately try to get away with not paying what they owe.

The report states: “At the end of the financial year the arrears outstanding are added to arrears from previous years. The amount of arrears for all years as at March 31, 2017 is £10 million.

“Most businesses pay their business rates. However some do not for a variety of reasons. Some simply have difficulty in paying while others either employ avoidance techniques to remove or minimise their liability, or seek to evade paying their business rate bill.

“Using the ‘system’ to avoid or minimise business rate liability is not illegal, but it does reduce the amount of business rates the Council is able to collect.”

The report states the Council has a collection procedure to maximise income. Currently the Council retains 49 per cent of the business rates it collects, with 50 per cent going to central government and one one per cent going to the West Yorkshire Fire Authority.

The meeting will also discuss a review into the government’s ‘localisation’ plans where local authorities will retain 100 per cent of the business rates.

The report adds: “One of the key outcomes from the review and reset of the business rate baseline will be the establishment of the new none domestic rates baselines (NNDR) for local authorities.

The baseline will determine the target level of business rates to be collected by the Council. Over recent years, the Council has not achieved the target level of business rates due to the effect of successful rating appeals.

“The mechanisms to be put in place for 100 per cent retention may lead to gains or losses for Bradford.”