News story

5th April 2001

South Gloucestershire - "not rural enough"

Northavon MP Steve Webb has protested to the Government over rules which mean that rural businesses in his Northavon constituency will not qualify for rates relief, despite suffering huge losses because of Foot and Mouth disease. The MP, whose constituency includes over 400 farms—three with confirmed cases of Foot and Mouth disease- was told in a written Parliamentary answer that a new Government rate relief scheme would not apply because it was intended only for rural local authorities. Whilst neighbouring Stroud, Cotswold and North Wiltshire all qualify as “rural”, South Gloucestershire does not because it also includes more urban areas such as Kingswood. As a result, businesses affected by the outbreak at Berkeley in Stroud DC will receive help, but businesses affected by the outbreak at Oldbury-on-Severn, just a few miles South, will not be covered by the new scheme.

Steve Webb said:

“As well as the dreadful time which local farmers are suffering, the many small businesses which are linked to rural life are also facing real difficulties. They will be astonished to be told that Government rules mean that they are not “rural enough. It is hardly their fault that the local authority they fall under is a mixture of rural and urban areas. I believe that all small businesses seriously affected by Foot and Mouth should be eligible for rate relief, and I call on the Government to amend the rules immediately”.

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