Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of retaining the business rates multiplier at the current level for the 2024-25 financial year.

The Government has taken action to hold the tax rate steady over the last three years, protecting businesses from inflationary pressures at a cost of £14.5 billion to the Exchequer.

Most recently, the Government froze the business rates multiplier for a third consecutive year in 2023-24, a tax cut worth £9.3 billion to business over the next 5 years. This will support all ratepayers, large and small, with the revaluation in 2023, meaning bills are 6 per cent lower, before any reliefs or supplements are applied, than without the freeze.

Decisions on the level of the multiplier for 2024-25 will be made in due course.