THE Government has backed the idea of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), drawing a warm response from the man behind Liverpool’s latest BID application.

Delegates at a fringe meeting of the Conservative Party conference were told by Bob Neill, Parliamentary under secretary for communities and local government, the business-led groups fitted in with the coalition’s agenda of “localism”.

More than 800 landlords and tenants will be lobbied in the coming months over plans to create a BID in Liverpool’s commercial district, generating a funding boost in excess of £600,000 per year for enhanced marketing, maintenance and physical improvements.

The Government’s latest stance was welcomed by Paul Rice, chief executive of Liverpool Commercial District Partnership, the organisation leading the application for BID status, who says there is a clear mandate for the move.

He urged the Government to go one step further by backing the scheme at a more localised level.

He said: “We’re confident that BID status can reap rewards for ratepayers across the commercial district.

“The challenge for us is not to identify the benefits of BID status, as there are many, but to ensure that all stakeholders are fully aware of those benefits, and understand their long- term value.”