Business Rates

Meg Hillier Excerpts

Tuesday 27th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.

[Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome the support for music venues as well as pubs in my constituency. I also welcome the Minister’s engagement and willingness to speak to the Select Committee and to be questioned by us. I am sure, Mr Speaker, you would agree that it would increase the Minister’s favour in your eyes were he to do that with dispatch and not leave it for too many weeks, so I thank the Minister for his engagement on that.

On the wider issues of business rates, changes have been announced, but will the Minister outline the timeframe within which we will see a significant change? It was a Labour manifesto commitment to change business rates, but it will take time because of the valuation procedure. Does he propose to change that wholesale, and in what timeframe? Businesses of all types, including pubs, need certainty most of all, so that they know the trajectory in good time and can plan.

[Dan Tomlinson]

The review of the methodology for pubs that we have announced today will be conducted as rapidly as possible, and I hope that it will conclude this year. We also want to look closely at the methodology used to value hotels, which is similar but not quite the same as that used for pubs. I am sure we will get into that in Committee in due course. We want to ensure that those reviews about the changes to the methodology conclude in good time for the next revaluation, which is set to come into operation in 2029. My hon. Friend asks about the Government’s ambition to rebalance the system. As I outlined, last year’s Budget introduced a significant rebalancing, with the largest businesses having a tax rate multiplier that is 33% higher than that of typical businesses on the high street. I look forward to continuing to engage with hon. Members and businesses on business rates in the run up to the Budget in the usual way.