Small Business Rates Relief

Talks have been ongoing with the Scottish Government in respect of the removal of relief in the recent Scottish budget.  We have highlighted our concerns in previous news articles.

We have been made aware that there has been an amendment to the provisions, contained within a statutory instrument (SI) which can be found at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2026/68/part/2/made

The SI states the following 

(i) deer forests on which –

(aa)shooting rights are exercised solely for the purposes of environmental management or for preventing damage to woodland or to agricultural production, or a combination of those purposes, and

(bb)any deer shot are made available for human consumption as venison, and 

(ii)deer forests on which shooting rights are not exercised in 

In effect this means if you, or someone else is going to consume the venison, the relief should remain.  This SI will advise assessors.  However, and we can’t emphasise this enough, given that any disputes in the future over the application of the relief legislation will likely rise or fall on records  and the ultimate destination and use of the venison, it is vitally important that records are kept detailing the when’s, where’s etc of the deer shot and who they were supplied to including for own consumption.  It will be essential to prove that the deer were for human consumption.

The amendment does not cover game shooting, and we will continue, with partners, to challenge this.

We will keep you updated with progress.