James Ashton: The door opens for a business rates review

Last week’s business rates climbdown was eminently avoidable. If the coalition government had not opted in 2012 to postpone the rates revaluation so that small businesses did not receive their new demands a few weeks before the 2015 election, there would not have been such shock and outcry two years on.

If the idea of business rates is to bring in a steady sum — currently £30 billion — rising with inflation, the more often it is reassessed to take account of fluctuating economic conditions, the better.

Unfortunately, the idea of carrying out valuations every three years instead of five might require self-assessment because the Government’s Valuation Office Agency is already struggling to recruit enough chartered surveyors.

What was underlined by last week’s by-election results is that the Conservatives will be in power until 2025 at least. It is an extraordinary window of time in which to tackle some of the tough stuff that rarely gets a look-in in the five-year election cycle.