Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the impact of additional business rate reliefs from South Oxfordshire District Council, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding further reliefs to business rates nationally, extending the criteria for these reliefs, and keeping these reliefs beyond the 2026/27.

At the Budget, the VO announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.

In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government has introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills.

As a result, over half of ratepayers see no bill increases in 2026/27, including 23 per cent whose bills go down. This also means most properties seeing increases have them capped at 15 per cent or less in 2026/27, or £800 for the smallest.

Around a third of properties already pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.

The government offers a range of Business Rates reliefs. Guidance on these can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/business-rates-relief.