Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the 2026 business rates revaluation was subject to a Cabinet Committee write-round.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency is responsible for maintaining an accurate rating list in England independently of central government.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will set out the criteria used by the Valuation Office Agency to determine whether a gastro-pub is assigned a special category code of a pub or restaurant.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are a broad range of considerations when determining if a property is a restaurant or a pub including. All valuations are carried out by experienced professionals in accordance with industry best practice and legal requirements.
From April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget, and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.
This relief will be awarded to pubs and live music venues at the discretion of Local Authorities, who will determine eligibility using guidance published by the Government and based on existing definitions.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the estimated annual revenue is from the hotel sector in relation to (a) business rates, (b) VAT, (c) National Insurance on employers and (d) corporation tax, according to records held by (i) HM Treasury and (ii) HMRC, in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold aggregated data on the revenue contribution of the hotel sector in relation to VAT, National insurance on employers or corporation tax. Sectoral breakdowns for individual taxes can be found on GOV.UK. HMRC does not administer business rates.Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2025, to Question 99923, on Retail Trade: Business Rates, what is the estimated change in the value of Retail Hospitality and Leisure relief for business rates in 2026-27 on firms not previously subject to the £110,000 cap in 2025-26.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government publishes data on the cost of, and number of properties receiving, business rates relief. This data can be found at the following link:
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Valuation Office Agency staff will have their contractual terms amended following its merger with HMRC.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency will close from 1 April 2026 with all colleagues transferring into HMRC. Colleagues will transfer under the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice (COSoP) with which HMRC and the VOA have complied in full.
All contractual terms currently held by colleagues working for the VOA have been protected as a matter of principle during this process and will be honoured in full on transfer to HMRC.
HMRC and VOA have consulted with VOA’s recognised Trade Unions during the COSoP process to ensure that meaningful engagement and discussion has taken place concerning all matters relating to the transfer.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Valuation Office Agency uses Value Significant Codes for council tax valuations, and whether it is planning to collect new Codes, for (a) England or (b) Wales.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency uses Value Significant Codes for council tax valuations to indicate specific features that are likely to affect the value of a property either positively or negatively.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Valuation Office Agency plans to publish an ad-hoc release for (a) Non-domestic rating: properties over £500,000 and (b) Non-domestic rating: summary of properties over £500,000, based on the 2026 Rating List.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This information was included in the Change in rateable value of rating lists, 2026 Revaluation publication:
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria is used by the Valuation Office Agency to determine whether a licensed premises is assigned a special category code of a (a) pub or (b) bar.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The criteria for determining special category codes for pubs and bars is published in the Valuation of Public Houses Approved Guide 2023. Guide_to_Public_Houses.pdf
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2025, to Question 95882, on Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties, for what reason CPI is used to calculate business rates.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The national business rates multipliers uprate by the previous September’s CPI figure every April.
Business rates make up a quarter of Local Authority core spending power and support critical local services, including child and adult social care. Indexing the business rates multipliers in between revaluations helps to maintain the real-terms value of this revenue to fund these services.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the (1) aggregate and (2) average, (a) percentage and (b) monetary change in Rateable Values in (i) England and (ii) London, between the 2023 and 2026 Rating Lists, according to information held by the Valuation Office Agency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Official statistics comparing the 2023 non-domestic rating lists and 2026 draft non-domestic rating lists for England are published here.