Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of property-based business taxation, such as business rates, on business investment and productivity.

The Call for Evidence on business rates and investment closed on 18 February. It asked stakeholders for more detailed evidence on how the business rates system influences investment decisions, with questions on the business rates system’s tax structure, small business rates relief, improvement relief and empty property relief.

The Government is carefully considering representations we’ve received, and a response to the Call for Evidence will be published in due course.