Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the findings of the report published in September 2026 by Oxford Economics, entitled The UK’s Investment Shortfall; and whether steps are being taken to reform business property taxes to encourage private infrastructure investment.

At Budget 2025, the Government published a Call for Evidence on business rates and investment, building on the findings of the Transforming Business Rates: Discussion Paper and asking stakeholders for more detailed evidence on how the business rates system influences investment decisions.

This Call for Evidence also explored the concerns raised by a small number of ratepayers about the impact of the receipts and expenditure valuation methodology on long-term, high value investment and options to address these.

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