Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has had discussions with the Greater London Authority on extending the 2026 (a) pubs and live music relief and (b) revaluation transitional relief to include increases in business rates from the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Business rates transitional relief is applied to business rates bills before the effect of other local reliefs or supplements. It therefore has no effect on local business rates supplements, such as the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement.
As set out in section 13 of the Business Rates Supplements Act 2009, where business rate reliefs are implemented under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, any applicable Business Rates Supplements are adjusted to reflect the percentage relief provided by those schemes. For the coming financial year, this will include adjustments to relevant Business Rates Supplements such as the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement, for the effect of the Supporting Small Business Relief Scheme and Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief Scheme. It is for the 33 London billing authorities and the Greater London Authority to ensure that the required determinations and resulting adjustments are made to ratepayer bills in respect of BRS liabilities.
The Mayor of London approved the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement policies for 2026-27 via a formal decision published on 16 January 2026, increasing the rateable value threshold above which the BRS applies from £75,000 to £92,000 from 1 April 2026. Further information can be found on the Greater London Authority’s website here.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential economic and social impact on rural pubs and hospitality businesses of reducing the drink driving limit; and whether alternative measures have been considered.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government is consulting on proposed changes to penalties for motoring offences, as part of the recently published Road Safety Strategy.
As part of this, the Government is consulting on the general principle of lowering the drink drive limit in England and Wales, which has remained unchanged since 1967 and is currently the highest in Europe.
Current evidence does not suggest a widespread or sustained adverse impact on the hospitality sector overall, but the Government will conduct an impact assessment following consultation responses and an evidenceled options analysis.
The consultation is seeking views on a range of measures to reduce drink-driving, including options such as alcohol ignition interlocks (“alcolocks”) for offenders and powers to suspend licences for suspected drink or drug drivers.
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to publish the total business rates receipts from all pubs for each financial year from 2023-24 to 2029-30.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Local Authorities do not report to Central Government how much business rates revenue they raise from different types of businesses. The Government therefore does not have this data to publish and nor did the previous Government.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are giving to hospitality businesses in rural areas by improving access for young people to travel to work in pubs and hotels.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government knows how important affordable and reliable public transport services are in ensuring access to employment opportunities and keeping communities connected, including for hospitality businesses in rural areas. We know that bus services can often be the only means of accessing work and leisure opportunities in rural areas, where alternative modes of transport are limited.
We have introduced the Bus Services Act 2025 to give local leaders the tools they need and empower them to choose the model that works best for their communities, including tackling the unique challenges faced by rural areas.
In addition, the Government has confirmed over £3 billion from 2026/27 to support local leaders and bus operators to improve bus services over the spending review period. This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish, to deliver better services for passengers, including expanding services and improving reliability. This could also include improving links between rural villages and nearby towns and enhance services that help young people travel to work in the hospitality sector.
The formula used to calculate LABG allocations for 2026/27 onwards includes consideration of the rurality of local areas for the first time, in addition to population size, levels of deprivation, and the extent of existing bus services.
The Government also intends to publish its integrated national transport strategy soon to set the long-term vision for domestic transport across England. It will focus on creating a transport network that works well for people, including those in rural areas.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the business rate information letter entitled 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, of 27 January 2026, what the cost is of the new relief in (a) 2026-27, (b) 2027-28 and (c) 2028-29.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
From April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.
Final costings will be confirmed at a fiscal event in the usual way.
The retail and hospitality sectors will continue to benefit from the £4.3 billion support package announced at Budget. This support package means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on including retail businesses in the proposed business rates relief for pubs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor holds regular discussions with her Ministerial colleagues about a broad range of matters.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Valuation Office Agency’s valuation method for small independent hotels.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
We recognise that hotels have expressed concerns about how they are valued for business rates. Hotels valuations are undertaken in a different way to some other sectors. The methodology used is well established, but, as with pubs, the government has announced it will review the way hotels are valued to ensure it accurately reflects the rental value for these sectors.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of increase in business rate receipts in England from 2025-26 to 2026-27 as a consequence of the CPI inflation uprating.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Details on business rates receipts for 2025-26 and 2026-27 are set out in the OBR’s economic and fiscal outlook.
The further support for pubs and live music venues will be scored at a fiscal event in the usual way.
In the coming financial year, because of the government’s interventions, the business rate system is raising broadly the same amount of revenue as it was forecast to before the Budget in Spring 2025.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the cost of (a) the potential business rates relief for pubs and (b) the cost of extending this relief to (i) the hospitality sector and (ii) the retail sector.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
From April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.
Final costings will be confirmed at a fiscal event in the usual way.
The retail and hospitality sectors will continue to benefit from the £4.3 billion support package announced at Budget. This support package means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's correspondence entitled 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) pub and (b) live music hereditaments that will benefit.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The number of pubs and live music venues that will benefit from this relief will be determined, ultimately, by the relief decisions made by councils in line with the guidance published.