Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: HM Treasury
Mary Kelly Foy
Main Page: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)Department Debates - View all Mary Kelly Foy's debates with the HM Treasury
Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure
Mary Kelly Foy Excerpts(1 day, 14 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Dan Tomlinson
It is worth pausing to note that while some businesses will see increases in their bills, more than half of rate payers’ bills will either remain flat or will fall in the next year. That, in part, is because of the support the Government have provided to businesses, as set out at the Budget.
Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham) (Lab)
Hospitality and leisure businesses in the City of Durham are incredibly concerned about their future. Does the Minister agree that if we are truly to level the playing field between the high street and the online giants, it is time we show our much loved pubs, cafés, restaurants and hotels the same level of support that distribution warehouses, office blocks and supermarkets are receiving?
Dan Tomlinson
We are seeking to give even more support to those businesses than to the very largest ones. Under previous Governments, there would have been the same tax rate for those businesses, but, because of the changes we put forward at the Budget, the business rates multiplier for the smallest businesses on high streets in Durham and across the country is 25% lower than the tax rate paid by the largest businesses. This is the first significant, fundamental reform to the underlying tax rates in the business rates system in a very long time.