A long-awaited review into business rates by the Scottish Government may not make any difference to the bills firms ultimately pay, the man in charge has admitted.
Ken Barclay, whose 12-month review is due to report in July, told MSPs his group had yet to decide whether to recommend “any final changes to any of the taxpayers” involved.
He also told Holyrood’s local government committee it was too early to say whether the review would produce “tinkering around the edges or a complete redesign”.
Nicola Sturgeon appointed Mr Barclay to lead the review last year.
Aberdeenshire West MSP Alexander Burnett said: “If this report is published in July and companies are left with the same high bills as before, there will be uproar among the business community here in the north-east.
“There are fundamental problems with the NDR system that need to be addressed – tinkering around the edges is not going to be good enough.”
Aberdeen finance convener Willie Young added that if the rates didn’t decrease it would be “a disaster” for the north-east.
