Scottish ministers have been told that the business rates relief package announced in the draft 2026-27 Budget is a 'sticking plaster' that will leave firms facing 'eye-watering bills'. Business leaders from retail, hospitality, and small business sectors said the measures outlined by Finance Secretary Shona Robison failed to go far enough.
Ms Robison proposed reducing basic, intermediate, and higher property rates, and providing transitional rates relief worth £184 million over three years. Additional relief for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses liable for basic or intermediate rates would be worth up to £110,000 per business per year. However, critics argued the relief does not match the scale of the problem.
Leon Thompson, executive director of UKHospitality Scotland, said the budget had 'not sufficiently addressed the challenges' facing the hospitality sector, adding that most firms 'will still be paying higher business rates bills in April'. He described the relief as 'merely a sticking plaster to cap eye-watering bills', warning that without further action 'we will only see job losses and business closures accelerate'.
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said the government had provided only a 'limited business rate discount', which 'falls well short of the permanent business rate discount on offer to retailers in England'. He cautioned that this could make Scotland 'materially less attractive as a location for investment' at a time when 'retail sales and footfall are in the doldrums'.
Guy Hinks, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland, called the budget a 'missed opportunity' and expressed disappointment that the government 'chose not to go further to protect small businesses'. He noted that with rate rises of up to 400%, the relief was 'effectively a drop in the ocean'. Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said while the budget offered a 'glimmer of hope', firms 'need more support and more ambition'. She warned of 'cliff-edge effects' for businesses that see significant increases in rateable value, pushing them beyond eligibility thresholds for support.
