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Just last month (June), the former Greater Manchester mayor and newly elected Makerfield MP pledged to reduce the burden by a fifth if he becomes Prime Minister.
According to reports in The Telegraph, he would look to raise the rates-free threshold from £12,000 to £18,000 alongside extending a £15,000 taper to £21,000.
Burnham would also abolish business rates for cafés, shops and hairdressers if he became leader.
Small business help
At the time, a number of trade bodies welcomed the pledge with the British Beer & Pub Association highlighting a further reduction would be a real boost.
UKHospitality called for a sector-wide solution, inclusive of all hospitality businesses while also calling for a 10% VAT rate for the industry.
Chief executive Allen Simpson added there were continuing discussions with the Government about business rates bills over the next two years of the current cycle with positive conversations taking place with all major parties about rates across England, Scotland and Wales.
This week (Thursday 9 July), in a video shared on Facebook, Burnham was asked ‘what are you going to do to help small businesses?’
“There [are] two things I’m going to do to help small businesses.”
Fair share
He added: “Firstly, have a look at business rates. It’s not fair high street businesses pay a huge amount of their turnover in business rates when some of the big players, the warehouse operations, don’t pay their fair share.
“So we’re going to change that to cut business rates for pubs and lift high street businesses out of business rates altogether.”
He added: “The second thing is taking a look at public procurement.
“There is so much more we can do to support British industry and small business through our approach to public procurement, making sure wherever possible, we support British businesses and give them the backing they deserve.”
