Discretionary Rate Relief Guidance

Discretionary non domestic rate relief

Eligibility criteria

Application process

Assessment process

Charitable organisations

Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) and other sports clubs

Ashford Borough Council's strategic objectives and priorities

Further guidance

Please read the below guidance when applying for discretionary rate relief. This guidance will give you details of the kind of information which we are looking for in support of your application. The same guidance will be used by us in assessing your application.

Charities, other not-for-profit bodies and sports clubs can apply for a percentage reduction on the business rates payable on any non-domestic property which is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes.

There are two elements to this reduction or relief: Mandatory (by law) and discretionary (i.e. at the discretion of the council). If you are a registered charity you are entitled to mandatory charity relief – 80% discount on the full or transitional amount due. If you are a community amateur sports club registered with the Inland Revenue you are also entitled to an 80% mandatory discount on any non-domestic property that is wholly or mainly used for the purposes of the club, or other such registered clubs.

Discretionary non domestic rate relief

This guidance deals with the discretionary element of non-domestic rate relief awarded by the council and set out the criteria by which we will assess your application.

Discretionary rate relief funding is subject to the council's budget position. We will assess your application according to the stated eligibility criteria and funding priorities so it is important that you read this guidance and make sure you are eligible before you apply.

You must answer all relevant questions in the application form in full. If you do not then the form will be sent back to you to be completed.

Who can apply for discretionary rate relief?

• Registered charities and other not for profit bodies
• Social enterprises
• Sports clubs

Who can not apply for discretionary rate relief?

• Schools, colleges or universities
• Charity shops
• Housing associations
• The property must not be occupied (other than as a trustee) by a charging authority or a precepting authority falling within section 144 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (i.e. no parish councils)

Eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible you must:

• be a not-for-profit organisation with either charitable status or a constitution with a formally appointed voluntary management committee
• have a bank or building society account in the organisation's name
• operate in Ashford borough and/or serve borough residents
• deliver services that provide a meaningful contribution to achieving Ashford Borough Council's strategic objectives and priorities
• demonstrate a wide community reach and ensure your service(s), project(s) or facilities are open at all times to all sections of the community and that all users are treated equally or have a clear, non-financial justification for targeting or prioritising a user group
• if appropriate, have a pricing policy that does not create a barrier to the use of your service(s), project(s) or facilities for particular groups of users (i.e. the disabled, students, deprived communities)
• if appropriate, demonstrate you have relevant safeguards, insurances and policies in place (i.e. public liability insurance, health and safety policy, child protection policy)
• demonstrate a need for discretionary rate relief and hold no more than 12 months' running costs in unrestricted/free reserves
• provide a copy of your accounts for the last two years or if a new organisation (less than a year old), a business plan together with 12 months' cash flow forecast and balance sheet to date signed by Chairman or Treasurer
• allow Ashford Borough Council to use your name and the name and details of your project in its own publicity materials

Sports clubs will need to meet the above criteria and additional conditions too.

Application process

Please complete an application form to apply – application forms can be found on our website and can be received at any time.

You should email supporting paperwork to Ashford Borough Council in a PDF format or send it to:

Revenues and Benefits Service
Ashford Borough Council
Civic Centre
Tannery Lane
Ashford
Kent TN23 1PL

Assessment process

All required supporting documentation must be submitted with the application. Failure to provide such or to agree suitable alternative arrangements with the Revenues and Benefits Manager will result in the application being deferred for 30 working days, after which the application will be deemed to be withdrawn if the required information has not been received or satisfactory alternative arrangements made.

We will assess your application according to the stated eligibility criteria, council objectives and funding priorities.

We will notify you of our decision within four weeks of the receipt of your application. The decision of the Revenues and Benefits Manager is final. Once awarded, discretionary relief will be time limited.

This application process does not deal with rural or hardship rate relief. If you wish to apply for either of these please contact the business rates team directly. You should also contact the business rates team for information on mandatory relief.

The administration of business rates for the borough of Ashford is handled by Canterbury City Council as part of a programme for Kent councils to work together.

For further information, please email the business rates team at Canterbury or call them on 01227 862316.

Charitable organisations

Registered charities and other non-for-profit bodies

An organisation falling under this category can be defined as follows:

Non-governmental organisations that are value-driven and not established or conducted for personal or private profit and whose objectives are charitable or otherwise philanthropic and which principally reinvest their surpluses to further social, environmental or cultural objectives.

Registered charities or charitable incorporated organisations

If you are a registered charity or CIO and the property you occupy is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes, you can apply for 80% mandatory relief.

We will consider increasing your rate relief by up to a further 20% discretionary relief. You must be a local independent charity (not a branch of a national charity) to qualify for full discretionary rate relief rather than 10%. If you receive mandatory relief, it is not automatic that you will receive top up discretionary relief. You will be assessed for discretionary relief according to the criteria set out in this guidance and the questions in the application form.

Other not-for-profit bodies

If you are a not for profit organisation (without charitable registration) you can apply for up to 100% discretionary relief if you meet the funding criteria.

It is not automatic that you will receive discretionary relief. You will be assessed for discretionary relief according to the criteria set out in this guidance and the questions in the application form.

Assessment process

In order to receive discretionary rate relief you must meet the eligibility criteria.

The amount of relief we award will depend on the extent to which you meet the funding criteria and our corporate objectives and can be awarded in 5% increments (i.e. 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, etc.) – this is set out in the table below:

Table showing various percentages of discretionary rate relief that can be claimed

Evidence required	% top-up relief for registered charities and CIOs	% discretionary relief for other not-for-profit bodies
Clear evidence of need, of wide community reach, and a material contribution to Ashford Borough Council's strategic objectives	10-20	50-100
More limited evidence of need, of community reach, and some material contribution to Ashford Borough Council's strategic objectives	5-10	5-50
No evidence of need, very restricted community reach, and no material contribution to Ashford Borough Council's strategic objectives	0	0

Social enterprises

If you are a social enterprise (without charitable registration) you can apply for up to 100% discretionary relief if you meet the funding criteria.

It is not automatic that you will receive discretionary relief. Social enterprises will be considered on a case by case basis. Social enterprises that clearly have a trading purpose may not have the same grounds for rate relief as an organisation that does not incorporate a wide commercial practice.

Social enterprises are defined as entities that provide benefit to the local community, providing that:

• The company's Articles of Association or Memorandum clearly state that any surplus of income over expenditure will be applied in a particular manner to ensure that no profit is actually made.
• They are industrial and provident societies and companies limited by guarantee, or a CIC, and that they:
  • Are a not for profit company
  • Hold assets in trusts
  • Provide benefit for the local community

Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) and other sports clubs

If you are a sports club that is either registered with the HMRC as a CASC or is a charity you can apply for 80% mandatory relief. We will consider increasing your rate relief by up to a further 20% discretionary relief.

If you are a sports club that is not registered as a CASC or charity you can apply for up to 100% discretionary relief.

In order to receive discretionary rate relief you must meet the basic eligibility criteria.

The level of relief you receive is assessed using the sports matrix below and the evidence you provide us with based on this matrix.

If a CASC or charity sports club fails to achieve a score of at least 80 against the matrix, no discretionary relief will be awarded. The amount scored above 80 on the matrix will translate directly in to the level of discretionary rate relief awarded to you.

For sports clubs which are not registered as a CASC or charity, your score on the sports matrix relates directly to the level of discretionary rate relief (i.e. from 0-100%) you will be awarded. For example, if you score 30 on the matrix you will be awarded 30% discretionary rate relief, if you score 60 on the matrix you will receive 60% discretionary relief, and so on.

Ashford Borough Council's strategic objectives and priorities

All discretionary rate relief applications will be assessed against the eligibility criteria and the council's strategic objectives and priorities from both our 2011-15 business plan and Focus 2013-15 priorities. 

Applications will therefore need to provide details of how their current activities contribute to some or all of the following:

1. Jobs and economic growth within the borough – attracting new business and growing our leisure, retail and tourism sectors in urban and rural areas; working with partners to grow the borough's education capabilities and our skills base. Examples might include:
   
   • community hall to provide a range of community services such as a play group
   • mobile sports/arts programmes for young people to tackle anti-social behaviour
2. Quality homes and places to live – for individual homes, new developments, our environment and the borough's infrastructure and communities. Examples might include:
   • local maintenance and conservation schemes, community allotments, play, outdoor recreation and events
3. Great value service – providing the range of council services benefiting Ashford's residents, ensuring that resources are deployed efficiently; developing specific programmes for the young and the elderly. Examples might include:
   • projects that provide services to council tenants, such as support and advice for the take up of benefits/access to services
   • projects that provide support, advice or intervention to prevent homelessness
   • projects that deliver recreational activities for young people outside of school hours, such as youth clubs, sports projects, community arts and festivals

Further guidance

Financial information required

If available, two years most recent accounts are required to support your application. This information will be used to establish the overall financial position, stability and hence financial need of the organisation.

Accounts must be specific to the organisation's operations within the borough as it is the local benefit that is being assessed. Group accounts from organisations that cover areas outside Ashford will not be accepted. A separate breakdown of income and expenditure should be provided.

If you are a new organisation (less than two years old), your first year's accounts will be sufficient.

If you are a new organisation (less than one year old), you must provide a business plan together with 12 months cash flow forecast and balance sheet to date, signed by your Chairman or Treasurer.

Definition of need

'Need' constitutes an organisation's need, financial or otherwise, for assistance which cannot demonstrably be generated by its day-to-day business operations, and constitutes a critical risk to the short to medium-term survival of the organisation.

The organisation should also demonstrate that it has already taken steps to identify, quantify and in some cases begin to mitigate this need.

Definition of wide community reach

Wide community reach includes the extent to which an organisation maximises its impact on the local community. This in turn allows for the largest possible number of people to take advantage of the services the organisation provides, free from exclusion (financial or otherwise).

For example, membership should be open to all sections of the community, unless there is a legitimate restriction placed on membership relating, for example, to the achievement of a standard in the filed covered by the organisation or where the capacity of the facility is limited.

Organisations can help to guarantee wide community reach by not charging or having membership fees set at such a high level as to exclude the general community.

The organisation should also actively encourage membership from particular groups in the community e.g. young people, women, older age groups, persons with a disability, ethnic minorities – groups which otherwise might find it harder to gain access to community facilities.

The wider use of facilities should be encouraged and rate relief might be one form of recognition that an organisation was promoting its facilities more widely, for example, to be used by local schools.

Definition of a material contribution to the council's objectives

We have a number of strategic priorities. Organisations applying for rate relief must demonstrate that their operations closely fit to at least one of these priorities, specifically stating how and in what manner the council can achieve these strategic objectives by supporting the work of the organisation through the granting of rate relief.

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