A Government minister has defended the way in which business rates are calculated for pubs.
It came in a letter to Conservative MP Chloe Smith, who expressed concern about steep rates rises experienced by licensees in her Norwich North constituency.
As the Morning Advertiser revealed in October, the average pub faces a 23% rise in rateable value (RV) from April, with many facing much bigger rises.
A key criticism, highlighted in Smith's letter to the Government, is that licensees feel penalised for being successful as their rates are based on rental values that can rise if turnover increases.
Barbara Follett, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, wrote: "The valuation officer will ensure throughout that the value reflects what is reasonable and fair for the property.
"Extra receipts attributable to actual landlords trading above what might reasonably be expected are ignored."
Another criticism is that revaluations are "flawed" because they were made at the height of the property market in 2008.
Follett said it would have been "wrong" to delay revaluation because it would have denied the "majority" of business premises — one million — a fall in their rates.
She also said that the multiplier used to calculate bills is the lowest for 17 years, at 15, adding: "This is designed to ensure the Government does not collect an extra penny from revaluation."
Serious problems
Smith, MP for Norwich North, has written to her local Valuation Office Agency branch to understand how valuations are calculated.
She also proposed having rates calculated locally rather than nationally.
It follows the assessment of Labour's Local Government Association Group that rates should be "further localised".
However, when she quizzed communities secretary John Denham on the idea in Parliament in January, he said: "I would certainly resist any proposals that the rateable values of businesses in her constituency or mine were set at the whim of local councillors."
Smith said: "A number of licensees locally are experiencing serious problems with this — several with increases over 100% — and are really feeling the pinch at a time when the pub trade is struggling nationally."