Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help small businesses in rural areas with increases in business rates.

Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) is available to businesses with a single property below a set rateable value. Eligible properties under £12,000 will receive 100 per cent relief, which means around a third of businesses in England (713,000) pay no business rates at all. There is also tapered support available to properties valued up to £15,000. This is a tax cut worth over £2.1 billion per year to support the smallest businesses.

Rural Rates Relief (RRR) is also available to businesses in eligible rural areas. Eligibility requirements can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-business-rate-relief/rural-rate-relief.

At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of changes and tax cuts worth £13.6 billion over the next five years, including a freeze to the business rates multiplier for 2023-24, a tax cut worth £9.3 billion over the next 5 years, meaning all bills are 6% lower than without the freeze.