Business Rates

Debate between Dan Tomlinson and Clive Betts

Tuesday 27th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

There is a big picture that we need to move to with business rates: making sure that, permanently, we have differential treatment for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses and those with higher value, particularly the large online warehouses that are causing the economic rebalancing that we do not really want to see and that is harming our high streets. The Government set out the reforms in the Budget in respect of the 5p reduction in the multiplier. As I have explained to Members, that is a transfer of nearly £1 billion in tax away from the high street—less tax—towards the larger online giants. I want to continue to engage on all tax matters that affect the high street in the run-up to the next Budget, and decisions will, of course, be made in the usual way.

[Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)]

I welcome the changes that the Minister is introducing for pubs and music venues. Can he assure me that the changes for music venues will apply to Sheffield arena, which currently, under the proposal, is being treated like an Amazon warehouse? Will he also look at an issue I wrote to him about? Handsworth Junior Sporting Club, a small local voluntary sports club in my constituency, is faced with a 60% increase in business rates. Surely that cannot be right. It needs to be looked at again.

[Dan Tomlinson]

As I have said, some live music venues are valued in a similar way to pubs, and will therefore be included in the relief. We think it fairest to provide the same level of relief to all music venues. The detail will be set out for the business in his constituency and others to see in the guidance, which I hope, if it has not already been published, will be published at some point today.

Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

Debate between Dan Tomlinson and Clive Betts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

No, we will not be considering the clawback proposals put forward. Instead, the Government have come forward with the change that was announced in December, which increases the threshold from £1 million to £2.5 million. It is worth remembering that the tax rate paid above the higher threshold is half the rate that anyone else who has sufficient assets would pay if they were liable for inheritance tax, and that any tax liability can be paid interest-free over 10 years. On balance, while these changes will affect some of the very largest estates—the Government have published the numbers, which are based on the actual claims data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs; it estimates that fewer than 200 estates will pay additional tax—almost all the estates paying additional tax will pay significantly less than they would otherwise have done, because we have listened to family businesses and farming communities.

[Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)]

Although this issue is clearly of importance to the farming industry, it is also of importance to small firms in the steel and engineering sector in my constituency. The owner of Special Quality Alloys, Benn Beardshaw, wrote to tell me that the firm had been in the family for many years, and had been passed on from one generation to another. He was really concerned that the measure as initially proposed could lead to a break-up of that important firm, which has won the Queen’s award for enterprise, or to it being sold off. Will the Minister confirm that this measure will equally help those sorts of small businesses, which are vital to the overall wellbeing of the steel and engineering sector in Sheffield?