Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to allow public markets run by local authorities to apply for business rate relief in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

Guidance for local authorities on the application of this business rates holiday was published on 18 March and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-rates-retail-discount-guidance.

The Government has announced £1.6bn of additional funding to support local authorities in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. This funding is intended to help local authorities address the pressures that they are facing across services.