Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Local Government Association Business Rates Avoidance Survey Report 2019, published on 1 January 2020, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the finding of that report that £250 million is lost to business rates each year; and what steps he plans to take to protect revenue from business rates for local authorities.

My Department welcomes the Local Government Association’s Business Rates Avoidance Survey, published in January 2020, and will work with the Local Government Association to evaluate its findings and better understand the causes of business rates avoidance.