North-east firms have failed to claim almost £9million of emergency help with business rate bills – with critics blaming “confusion” over the schemes.
Already-struggling outfits across the north-east were smacked with soaring bills after a revaluation failed to account for the impact of the oil and gas downturn.
Bosses who feel they have been unfairly hit have only days left to appeal against the new charges, or be stuck with them for five years.
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce urged businesses to “use it or lose it” ahead of the looming September 30 deadline.
And they also encouraged all those eligible for state help to make sure they did not miss out.
The Scottish Government belatedly responded to loca; anger in February by capping rates increases at 12.5% in the hospitality and north-east office sectors as part of a £600m national scheme.
Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire councils also offered local relief schemes, worth £4million and £3million respectively.
But in the Granite City, just £3.3million of the £7.5million made available by ministers has been claimed – with only one in five of 1,347 eligible firms applying so far.
Around a quarter of the townhouse-run pot has been claimed.
In Aberdeenshire, where the council-funded relief is automatically deducted from bills, just 129 out of 700 firms have applied for government relief, claiming just £657,000 of the £2.3million on ofer.
AGCC chief executive Russell Borthwick blamed “confusion” about the operation of the reliefs for the low take-up.
The package had been made available because “the voice of local business was heard loud and clear following the revaluation”, he said.
“We believe however that there are a number of barriers which have resulted in a lower than expected number of applications for relief. After all, most businesses are extremely focused on securing money which will directly impact on their bottom line.
“Areas of confusion based on the chamber’s discussions include whether individual properties are entitled to relief, which scheme businesses should apply for and where to go to get further information and application forms.
He added: “The deadline for appealing rateable values is September 30 and we are urging businesses to take action now or lose out on the cost savings they could be entitled to and accept their rate will remain what it is until 2022.”
City council finance convener Douglas Lumsden said: “We would encourage everyone entitled to relief to come forward as quickly as possible to claim it.
“As people go through the appeal process we have tried to make applying for relief as easy as possible on the council website.”
He signalled that a September 30 deadline for accessing the council-offered reliefs was likely to be extended.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson joined the appeals, saying: “We can only show that there’s something demonstrably broken about the system if we’re able to demonstrate that it’s affected so many people.
A Scottish government spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government has committed to around £660 million of rates relief this year, including an additional £7.5 million specifically for Aberdeen.
“It is for businesses to apply for relief and for councils to administer it. We would encourage all councils to promote rates relief with local businesses to ensure they maximise take up.”
