sajid javid pictured was last night facing an all-out revolt over business rates  theresa may retains 'full confidence' in communities secretary sajid javid despite him facing an all out revolt over business rates.  the embattled cabinet minister has insisted critics of the business rate revaluation have been misled by a 'relentless campaign of distortions and half-truths'.  but mr javid is facing claims from tory colleagues that he is 'spinning the numbers' and a letter sent to calm down the row played down the rises.  as the row threatened to boil over, mrs may's official spokesman was asked if the pm continued to have full confidence in mr javid.  he replied: 'yes.'  the government insists 73 per cent of firms will have the same rates or lower bills - but this leave 510,000 companies facing higher charges.  in a letter, mr javid begged mps to reassure their constituents about the changes, arguing that three quarters of businesses will see their rates frozen or cut.  but last night mr javid was accused of peddling misinformation of his own as a new analysis suggested the government's figures were inaccurate. the study said the bills that firms will actually receive over the next few weeks will be 7 percentage points higher on average than ministers say.  this is because 2 per cent inflation has not been factored in and the government has assumed that its appeals system will give 5 per cent rebates to all firms – despite challenges being harder and more costly to mount.  ex minister grant shapps today accused mr javid of 'spinning the numbers'.  he told sky news: 'it has been suggested by government this is fiscally neutral but it raises £1bn.  'better just to say that, rather than spin it out as something which actually saves businesses money when it doesn't.'  ex-minister grant shapps today accused mr javid of 'spinning the numbers' in the row over a revaluation of business rates  tory mp andrew bridgen said he challenged chancellor philip hammond about the disputed figures at a meeting of the tory backbench 1922 committee yesterday.  'i'm disappointed that it would appear that the figures we were given did not set out the actual position,' he said. 'the list sets out a best case scenario. i challenged the chancellor on it but i received no answer.'  mr javid's letter – also signed by chief secretary to the treasury david gauke – said rates would fall in 250 of the 329 local billing authority areas in england – and detailed these in a list accompanying the letter.  according to an analysis by ratings specialist gerald eve, rates will fall in only 135 councils – and increase in 191.  basildon, harrogate, canterbury and stafford are among 124 local authorities in line for an overall hike in business rates, as opposed to the cut promised by the government. basildon will see business rates rise by 0.15 per cent, instead of fall by 6.3 per cent. harrogate will see a 2.27 per cent jump, as opposed to a 4.3 per cent cut, and canterbury will see a 0.92 per cent hike, rather than a 4.3 per cent fall.  the communities secretary claims small firms have been misled by a 'relentless campaign of distortions and half-truths'  the analysis says theresa may's maidenhead constituency will see a 15.75 per cent increase in business rates – rather than a 8.3 per cent rise claimed in the list accompanying mr javid's letter.  at the same time, the fall in rates in mr javid's bromsgrove constituency will only be 9.29 per cent – as opposed to the government's figure of 15.2 per cent  jerry schurder, head of business rates at gerald eve, said last night: 'the figures provided to tory mps show that the department for communities is living in a parallel universe, one where there is no inflation and an automated appeals system that gives 5 per cent rates rebates across the board.  theresa may, pictured yesterday on the campaign trail in the stoke by-election, retains confidence in sajid javid despite the furore over business rates  'but back in the real world, the bills that will land on doormats in the next few weeks will be around 7 per cent higher than these figures suggest, while appeals will be become both more expensive and less likely to succeed as the government seeks to disincentivise businesses from challenging their bills.'  the department for communities and local government last night rejected claims that the figures were misleading. it referred the mail to the small print which states: 'the average change in bills is before any inflation or appeals adjustments have been made.'  tim farron, the liberal democrat leader, said: 'sajid javid complained about half truths and then he puts out this guff. these figures are pure misinformation and half truths.the government should be ashamed of themselves. they are spinning so much on this issue they are making everyone dizzy.  'while they put our data strewn with errors, small businesses are panicking about the impact of these massive rate hikes. it is time for a u-turn. the government need to make it soon.'  mr javid was also under fire from business groups, mps and small firms, which claimed he had also omitted key information from his letter about the devastating impact rate rises will have.  the institute of directors described mr javid's failure to mention the half a million firms that will see their rates go up as 'disingenuous' and warned that 'tens of thousands' could go bust.  stephen herring, the iod's head of taxation, said: 'the government is right that many businesses will see their rate bills go down, but the issue is the sudden and dramatic increases that many high street shops and pubs are having to deal with. it is disingenuous to focus on average rate reductions and ignore the fact that many small firms are facing huge rate hikes. we could see tens of thousands of firms go bust.'  the british retail consortium said in a statement: 'no one is a winner from this revaluation. business rates have increased from a third of rental value in 1990 to half today.  amanda wrigley and her mother shirley outside their shop hirst antiques, in notting hill, which is facing a big hike in business rates  'this is the highest commercial property tax in the developed world.the current system is not fit for purpose in the 21st century and needs fundamental reform.'  one antiques dealer said the rates hike could be the 'final nail in the coffin' for many struggling high street retailers.  amanda wrigley runs hirst antiques in notting hill, london, with her mother shirley hirst, who founded the business 53 years ago. miss wrigley, 36, said her rates would double while chains faced much smaller increases.  she told the mail: 'this is not a myth. we're not making this up. this is going to affect business across the country. a lot of us are feeling the pinch already – but this could be the final nail in the coffin.  'my mum is still working at the age of 80 and enjoys what she does. but it's a lot less fun when first our rent and then out rates go up. it makes us wonder how we're going to make it work.'  yesterday another ratings specialist said mr javid had also failed to mention that thousands of firms in line for the biggest cuts to business rates will not benefit for the full reduction for years because of transitional arrangements.  analysis from ratings specialist daniel watney found half of firms set for the biggest rate cuts will not receive the full reduction for three years – and one in five will not see the full benefit at all before rates are revalued again in five years.  a government spokesman said: 'these are completely spurious claims by ratings agents with more interest in their own profits than a fair deal for businesses.  'we have been clear how our figures are calculated and what they include. in fact the revaluation of business rates means three quarters of businesses will see a fall, or no change, in their bills – 600,000 small businesses will pay no rates at all.  'far from stopping anyone appealing their bills, or setting a margin of error, our reforms will mean businesses will no longer need to go through these scaremongering ratings agencies but instead can check, challenge and appeal their bills quickly and easily.'  debunked: minister's claim hikes are a myth  analysis by business correspondent james salmon  sajid javid has written directly to mps to try to quell the rebellion against his business rates reforms. the communities secretary insisted the row was based on 'myths'. but business groups last night accused him of peddling half-truths of his own.  javid's claim  he says the first 'myth' about revaluation is that there will be 'across the board rate rises'.  reality  nobody has been claiming that most businesses will see their business rates rise. mr javid points out that the revaluation will lift around 600,000 smaller firms out of paying business rates, while around 740,000 will see their rates frozen. but there is no mention of government figures showing around half a million business will see an increase in their rates of up to 300 per cent.  the minister also hails the 'unprecedented £6.7billion package of rate relief' to ensure that those facing the biggest rate hikes see them phased in gradually. but what mr javid omits to say is that those firms that have been lined up for cuts will not enjoy the full benefits for years. a 'downwards cap' on rate reductions means small firms can see their rates trimmed by a maximum of 20 per cent in 2017/18.  these caps are even stricter for medium and larger firms – which will receive a maximum discount of 4.1 per cent in the first year of the new regime. the reliefs are likely to come too late for the thousands of businesses already paying over the odds because the last revaluation was carried out at the height of the pre-credit crisis property boom in 2008.  according to business rates expert daniel watney, half of properties seeing the biggest falls in rates will not benefit from their full rates cut for three years, while one in five will not see their full rates cut before the next revaluation in five years.  claim  revaluation is 'emphatically not being used to hide a stealth rise in taxes'.  reality  government figures suggest the revaluation will raise an additional £1billion in the first year alone. business rates will raise £25.5billion in 2017-18, after the changes are introduced on april 1, up from £24.5billion this year.  mr javid has insisted this is simply because the number of businesses is expected to grow, with some expanding or renovating premises. this means more, and bigger businesses, will be paying into the pot.  but the british retail consortium and institute of directors both fear the reforms will drive many traders to the wall, meaning any increase in revenues to the exchequer will have to come from firms paying more.  claim suggestions that the rates review will devastate high streets are 'simply not true'.  reality again, mr javid appears to have deliberately misinterpreted or ignored warnings from business leaders. lobby groups – including the institute of directors and the british retail consortium – have never suggested that hundreds of thousands of firms will go bust.  however, given that more than half a million enterprises will see their rates shoot up by up 300 per cent, the iod believes that tens of thousands of pubs and restaurants which are already struggling, will be tipped over the edge. retail expert mary portas has warned that the revaluation will 'cripple' high street shops in areas where house prices have increased.  'the tax bill which will hit retailers from april will be the single biggest blow to independent shops since the financial crisis,' she said. 'i would estimate that at least a third of them will die.'  claim  the government is 'reforming the appeals process to make it easier for business to check, challenge and appeal their bills'.  reality  it will become tougher and more expensive for firms to appeal, once a complaint has been rejected by the government's valuation tribunal. what mr javid fails to mention in his letter is that the government is introducing new charges of £150 for small firms just to appeal their rate to a tribunal. larger companies will have to pay £300.  the government also plans to fine businesses up to £500 if they make a 'careless' or deliberate mistake while filling out their forms. officials claim it will deter businesses from lodging speculative appeals backed with little or no evidence. this should help to clear a backlog of 280,000 appeal cases that stretch back to 2010.  but several other changes have also been made to the appeals process that will make it harder for businesses to complain.  previously, it was a two-stage process involving a simple form and no fees were charged. now, it is expected to become a three-stage process, including an initial 'checking' stage where firms must confirm that every part of their property which the valuation is based on is accurate.  experts say that businesses will also be required to submit more formal evidence than before. if the appeal has still not been resolved, the final stage is a tribunal, when a fee is charged.
pm may stands by sajd javid after business rates dossier