Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the guidance, Business Rates Multipliers: Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure, of 30 March 2026, whether student union bars are eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure multiplier introduced in April 2026.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Local Authorities determine whether a hereditament meets the legislative definition of Retail, Hospitality or Leisure (RHL) and therefore qualifies for the RHL multiplier.
Full details of eligibility for the new multipliers are set out in the relevant statutory instrument (SI), which can be found online here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1093/contents/made with guidance to support in interpreting the SI found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/business-rates-multipliers-qualifying-retail-hospitality-or-leisure
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the No10 press release entitled Burnham means business: PM slashes business rates bills for pubs, clubs and live music venues, of 23 July 2026, what the estimated annual revenue is from extending VAT online marketplace liability to combat non-compliance.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Government consulted on extending VAT online marketplace liability to combat non-compliance, from 23 June to 18 August 2026
Revenue raised from extending the VAT online marketplace liability rules to domestic businesses will be reinvested into improvements to the business rates system.
The Government is considering responses to the consultation and will set out its policy response in due course. Impacts on Exchequer revenues alongside further details of the policy will be published in the usual way.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the guidance, Business Rates Multipliers: Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure, of 30 March 2026, and with reference to the No10 press release, “PM vows to save hollowed out high streets with crackdown on vape and betting shops”, 10 August 2026, whether adult gaming centres are eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure multiplier introduced in April 2026.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Local Authorities determine whether a hereditament meets the legislative definition of Retail, Hospitality or Leisure (RHL) and therefore qualifies for the RHL multiplier. Ahead of Budget 2025, the Government laid a Statutory Instrument (SI) defining ‘qualifying RHL hereditaments’ for the purposes of the RHL multipliers. The SI can be found online here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1093/contents/made.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the No10 press release entitled Burnham means business: PM slashes business rates bills for pubs, clubs and live music venues, 23 July 2026, how he plans to determine whether premises will be eligible for the relief; and whether it will be applied to (a) wine bars, (b) night clubs that do not play live music, (c) hotels with a bar open to the public, (d) pubs with hotel rooms and (e) private clubs not open to members of the public and (f) lap dancing clubs.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The scope of the 20 per cent relief will broadly follow the scope of the current 15 per cent relief and real-terms freeze in bills. However, to target support where it is most needed, the Government will not be making the additional 20 per cent available to the very largest venues. The Government will provide further details at the Budget on how this carve out will apply.
This relief will be awarded by Local Authorities, who will determine eligibility using guidance published by the Government. The guidance for the existing 15 per cent relief can be found online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pubs-and-live-music-venues-relief.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Valuation Office Agency annual report and accounts, 2025-26, HC401, 9 July 2026, page 81, if he will break down the increase in staff by business unit; and what the FTE target is for 2026-27.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Valuation Office’s headcount increase was for 9 corporate roles and 484 operational roles. The operational roles were split between the Chief Valuer Group (152) and the Valuation Operation Group (332) to support delivery across a range of areas including customer services, council tax and apprentice surveyors.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Valuation Office Agency annual report and accounts, 2025-26, HC401, 9 July 2026, pages 53 and 56, what the nature of the risk is in relation to (a) the introduction of the council tax surcharge and (b) 2029 business rates revaluation.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
As outlined in our annual report and accounts, the risks relating to Revaluation 2029 and High Value Council Tax Surcharge relate to VO delivery and ensuring we mitigate them effectively.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what was the business case for the Avant Homes payment plan agreement for its Developer Remediation Contract of January 2026; and how many other housing developers have been given payment plans agreements.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Developer Remediation Contract, developers committed to fix or pay to fix over 2,600 buildings at a cost to themselves of around £4.2bn. This includes repaying taxpayers for money spent to fix any of those buildings through government schemes.
The terms of the Contract, which are publicly available, provide for any developer who signed it to request a payment plan to allow it to spread those repayments over an agreed period, with interest.
Developer eligibility is informed by due diligence undertaken by government.
To date, government has agreed a payment plan with one developer (Avant Homes).
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HMRC official statistics, Non-domestic rating: challenges and changes statistical commentary, 6 August 2026, whether there is a forecast for the total number of (a) Checks, (b) Challenges and (c) appeals in England against the 2026 rating list over the full rating cycle.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Valuation Office does not publish forecasts for the number of Checks, Challenges or Appeals that may be made against the 2026 rating list in England over the course of the rating cycle.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the answer of 26 February 2026 to Question 113649 on Council Tax: Valuation, whether there is HMRC Valuation Office guidance on physical inspections of dwellings for council tax valuations.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN19141 tabled on 15 July 2026.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the HM Treasury webpage entitled Business case publications: collection, last updated 13 August 2026, whether her Department holds Government Major Projects Portfolio business cases produced since June 2025 which have not been uploaded to the website.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department currently has three Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) programmes: the Building Safety Remediation Programme, the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP), and the National Housing Delivery Fund (NHDF). Business cases for these programmes have not yet been finalised or are currently being updated. They will be published once finalised, in line with HM Treasury guidance on the publication of GMPP business cases.