Torness<\/a> nuclear power station to the East Lothian valuation roll in January 2022.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n Torness was entered on the roll with a rateable value of \u00a339.5m after becoming Scotland’s only remaining active nuclear power station. Previously, its valuation had been recorded by the Lanarkshire Valuation Joint Board under arrangements that applied when more than one active nuclear site operated in Scotland.\n<\/p>\n
\n The impact was substantial. The cumulative rateable value of properties on the East Lothian valuation roll rose from \u00a380.7m at the end of March 2021 to almost \u00a3120m a year later, with the Torness valuation accounting for the vast majority of the increase. While valuation officials stressed they are responsible only for property valuations, rather than rates collected, the figures suggest the transfer was a major factor behind the area’s sharp rise in business rates contributions.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n The geographical distribution of NDR income reinforces the picture of uneven change.\n<\/p>\n
\n Edinburgh’s continued strength and East Lothian’s rapid rise stand out, but the map also shows how strongly Scotland’s commercial property tax base remains concentrated in a relatively small number of urban and industrial centres. Not every part of the country has participated equally in the growth seen since 2019-20.\n<\/p>\n
\n The figures also explain why the rankings are not as straightforward as they first appear.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n Glasgow generated the larger gross rates bill in 2025-26 at \u00a3549m, compared with \u00a3525m in Edinburgh. Yet Edinburgh still finished slightly ahead on the contributable amount measure.\n<\/p>\n
\n That is because the gross amount payable represents the starting liability before reliefs, deductions, prior-year adjustments and retentions are applied.\n<\/p>\n
\n The contributable amount is what remains afterwards. Glasgow therefore had the larger headline rates base, but Edinburgh made the slightly larger contribution to the national pool.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n The final piece of the picture is the scale of reliefs built into the system. In 2025-26, mandatory reliefs totalled \u00a3693.4m, discretionary reliefs \u00a346.5m and local reliefs \u00a322.8m, together amounting to roughly \u00a3763m.\n<\/p>\n
\n Two schemes dominated. The Small Business Bonus Scheme accounted for \u00a3258.7m, while charity relief was worth \u00a3225.7m. Together they represented more than \u00a3484m of support.\n<\/p>\n
\n The latest NDR figures therefore tell two stories. One is geographic, with Edinburgh edging ahead of Glasgow and East Lothian emerging as one of Scotland\u2019s most striking risers.\n<\/p>\n
\n The other is structural. Changes to valuation rolls, alongside reliefs, adjustments and appeals, can have a major effect on the amount of revenue ultimately generated through business rates. In East Lothian’s case, the addition of a \u00a339.5m-rated nuclear power station transformed the picture almost overnight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Image: Damian Shields) Although Edinburgh now sits ahead of Glasgow on the contributable measure, the figures suggest a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-808478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}