Finance: 'Fair solution' pledge over port rates bills

MINISTERS have pledged to find a "fair, long term solution" to the threat of massive backdated rate bills which threatened to put port-based companies out of business.

Local Government Minister Bob Neill met with business representatives affected by the charges this week to explain the Government's freeze on bills for this year, which has proved a lifeline to many firms around Humber ports.

But he insisted the moratorium – which has been welcomed by firms who had faced demands for hundreds of thousands of pounds – was only a "first step".

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The coalition Government introduced the freeze on bills for this year in line with a Tory manifesto commitment, giving a lifeline to struggling firms. They had been handed the backdated bills after a botched revaluation exercise by the Valuation Office Agency in 2008.

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