PRA calls for business rates relief extension
The Petrol Retailers Association has urged the government to extend the 100% business rates relief for filling stations beyond next April.
It is also calling for a tapered reduction to 50% in order to avoid a cliff-edge return to previous levels.
Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said: “We strongly recommend that the present 100% business rates relief for Filling Stations (PFS) is continued beyond April 2021, until such time as the Covid-19 restrictions have become less onerous.
“The latest data from BEIS analyses UK fuel sales for 4,500 sites and the sample average shows volumes close to 90% of pre-lockdown. However, this sample is highly skewed towards supermarkets, oil company owned and operated sites and major independent groups and so excludes nearly 4,000 independent PFS volumes.
“While we commend the rates review’s stated aims of reducing the overall burden on business and improving the current business rate system, we would urge the government to go further. This is because the experience in many cases of our members, particularly those located in rural, less affluent and newly-derived Conservative seats, is that fuel volumes are still well below the 90% figure, with examples of volumes at only 60% of pre-Covid levels.”
