Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of business or employment tax rises on (a) gyms, (b) swimming pools, and (c) leisure centres.

The Government recognises the important contribution that sport and physical activity make to health and wellbeing in the UK.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties, including those in the hospitality sector as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including gyms, swimming pools, and leisure centres. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

Additionally, businesses and other organisations providing these services can continue to benefit from measures including the increase in the Employment Allowance to £10,500 and the Government remains committed to the small profits rate, under which companies with profits of £50,000 or less are subject to a 19 per cent rate. Marginal relief for companies with profits of between £50,000 and £250,000 means only around 10 per cent of actively trading companies pay the full main rate of 25 per cent. This means gyms, swimming pools and leisure centres whose companies meet these conditions will continue to face lower effective corporation tax rates.