THE Government has announced a revaluation of business rates which it says will ensure fairer bills for businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Local Government Minister Marcus Jones yesterday published a consultation on the revaluation, alongside figures which show the majority of businesses across the country will be unaffected or better off due to the changes.

The Government said the revaluation would reduce bills in Yorkshire and Humber by ten per cent before inflation and transitional relief, cutting bills by almost £230 million per year.

It said this was on top of measures which mean that from next April businesses would benefit from the biggest-ever cut in business rates in England – worth £6.7 billion over the next five years. As a result, it said, 600,000 businesses across the country would pay no business rates at all.

Those businesses which face an increase in the bills would find any rise was capped at five per cent in the first year for small properties, with a dedicated system of transitional relief worth £3.4 billion to help business owners adjust to the new bills.

Mr Jones said: “This Government is cutting business rates.

“Yet local firms also need to be confident that the rates they pay are accurate and fair, no matter where they are in the country, and these updates will give them that reassurance.”