Had an interesting day in County Hall this week looking at local government finances in general and Essex CC in particular. It is expected that the Rate Support Grant will be completely phased out in around 5 years with a replacement by the retention of business rates by local government. Interesting for me though was that New Homes Bonus was seen as a minor component of financing at the County level. This will NOT be the case in Uttlesford where we one of the largest builders of new homes in the country (relative to our current size). This means that UDC funding over the next 5 years could be quite a roller-coaster ride as we benefit from New Homes Bonus plus Business Rates whilst being responsible for back claims on Rates for which we have not actually received the revenue. UDC is prudently reserving over £4m for this eventuality.
