SFA wants rates linked to local authority performance

The Small Firms Association has called for the introduction of measures to improve the performance of local authorities.

The association said it members wanted more value for the rates they pay and one way to achieve this was to link the rates to the performance of local councils.

SFA president Pat Delaney said accountability was the main problem.

"At the moment, local authorities are responsible to nobody," he claimed. "They do whatever they want, whenever they want and the cost of it is picked up by business. That has to stop."