Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of business rates on the ability of registered childcare providers to remain financially viable in England.

The Government appreciates that business rates can represent a high fixed cost for small businesses. Childcare providers may be eligible for Small Business Rates Relief, where the smallest businesses pay no business rates at all. All childcare providers will benefit from the change from RPI to CPI indexation of business rates.

The Government will be conducting a fundamental review of business rates.