Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department has taken to explore alternatives to business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure premises; and whether she has considered implementing a Commercial Landowner Levy based on land value.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.
The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The Call for Evidence, published at Budget, focuses on how reform of the business rates system can be used to incentivise and secure more investment by Britain’s businesses. This Call for Evidence builds on the findings of the Transforming Business Rates: Discussion Paper and asks stakeholders for more detailed evidence on how the business rates system influences investment decisions.
Any reforms taken forward will be phased over the course of the Parliament.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Valuation Office Agency's Council Tax: practice notes, Basis of Valuation- Valuation Assumptions, Section 4.3: Tenure, what estimate the Agency has made of the average difference between sale prices and council tax valuations.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency values properties in line with legislation. It is not required to provide estimates relating to the difference between sales prices and Council Tax valuations to carry out this work.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether an Electric Vehicle chargepoint within the curtilage of a domestic dwelling is deemed to be a material consideration by the Valuation Office Agency when a property is valued or revalued for council tax, including the new surcharge.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency considers a range of factors when valuing domestic properties, including property attribute details, sales data, and the valuations of similar properties.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Valuation Office Agency's publication, VOA rating list downloads, whether the Unique Address Reference Number matches individual hereditaments on the 2026 draft non-domestic rating list with their previous entry on the 2023 non-domestic rating list; and how are properties matched if they do not have an Unique Address Reference Number.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
All properties in the rating list are assigned a Unique Address Reference Number (UARN).
The UARN for each property is the same between both lists and will continue into the compiled list, due to come into effect on 1 April 2026.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the council tax bands, banding thresholds and multipliers for the new council tax surcharge will be set in (a) primary or (b) secondary legislation.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government expects that the implementation of the High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) will require both primary and secondary legislation.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the revaluation of business rates on levels of employment in North Yorkshire.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. Most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what process will be used to value family businesses after the changes to Business Property Relief are introduced.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The inheritance tax value of a person’s estate is the open market value of all their assets and liabilities. The forthcoming changes to business property relief will not change the existing rules on valuing a business. Valuation assumes a sale between a hypothetical seller and buyer, reflecting reality for all other factors such as industry conditions, trading history, and prospects, according to industry standards.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent public sector pay settlements on trends in the level of public sector net borrowing in future financial years.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of taking fiscal steps to offset the potential impact of recent public sector pay agreements on the public finances.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what analysis her Department has undertaken of the distributional impact of recent public sector pay awards across income deciles.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.