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.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's correspondence entitled 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, published on 27 January 2026, whether the new scheme disapplies the transitional relief schemes for (a) 2027-28 and (b) 2028-29 financial years by capping any increases relative to the outturn bill for 2026-27 at CPI inflation.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Properties eligible for the pub and live music venue relief scheme will benefit from a 15% relief in 2026/27. Thereafter they will see their rates bill frozen in real terms in 2027/28 and 2028/29 provided the pub remains occupied. Any improvements to the pub which increases its rateable value after 1 April may also increase the bill in the normal way.
The Treasury have published examples of how the pub and live music venue relief scheme will work. Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief - GOV.UK.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's correspondence entitled 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, published on 27 January 2026, for pubs eligible for the £800 Supporting Small Business Relief (SSBR) cap, whether the 15% pubs relief (a) reduces the £800 cap to £680 and (b) reduces the rates liability by 15% before any £800 cap is applied.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Properties eligible for the pub and live music venue relief scheme will benefit from a 15% relief in 2026/27. The 15% relief will be applied after the existing Supporting Small Business Relief scheme.
The Treasury have published examples of how the pub and live music venue relief scheme will work. Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief - GOV.UK.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, further to the business rate information letter, 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, whether the reduction in business rate revenue from the new relief will affect the revenue to local government from locally retained business rates in the new revaluation cycle from 2026 to 2029.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
On 27 January, the department confirmed to local authorities that they will be fully compensated for the loss of income associated with granting the pubs and live music venues relief and the government will fund the associated new burdens, including the administrative and software costs of implementation.
This communication with local authorities is published here.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to the business rate information letter, 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, whether the new relief will be available to (a) licensed premises which have a members’ clubs premises licence under the Licensing Act 2023 and (b) the bar of a community sports club.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This relief will be awarded to pubs and live music venues at the discretion of Local Authorities, who will determine eligibility using guidance published by the Government and based on existing definitions.
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, published on 27 January 2026, whether a gastro-pub categorised by the Valuation Office Agency as a restaurant is eligible for the relief; and whether a restaurant with a bar at which customers can sit and order a drink without food makes the venue eligible for the pubs relief.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This relief will be awarded to pubs and live music venues at the discretion of Local Authorities, who will determine eligibility using guidance published by the Government and based on existing definitions.
Asked by: Graham Stuart (Conservative - Beverley and Holderness)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of excluding soft play centres and other family focused venues from the 15 per cent business rates discount for pubs and music venues on those businesses; and whether she plans to extend equivalent relief to venues serving children, parents and carers.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Pubs rents in business rates valuations are analysed differently to some other sectors. While most hospitality and leisure properties are valued by comparing the size of the property, pubs are valued by comparing their turnover potential. Industry bodies have highlighted concerns with how costs are accounted for in this methodology, particularly during periods of high inflation. There is significant overlap between the pub sector and live music venues, with many pubs serving as grassroots live music venues, meaning they are often valued for business rates purposes in a similar way.
The new pubs and live music venues relief is on top of the £4.3 billion support package announced at the Budget to support ratepayers across all sectors seeing bill increases. As a result of the Budget package, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases. This also means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
The Government is also introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including soft play centres. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much additional funding will be allocated to the Northern Ireland Executive through Barnett consequentials following the announcement of the pubs and live music venues relief scheme on 27 January; and whether they plan to extend that relief scheme to the wider hospitality sector.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Any Barnett consequentials for the Northern Ireland Executive resulting from changes to business rates revenues in England will be confirmed when business rates forecasts change at the relevant fiscal event.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding the Northern Ireland will receive through Barnett consequentials from the support package for pubs further to her Department's press release entitled Government announces support package that backs British pubs, published on 27 January 2026.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Any Barnett consequentials for the Northern Ireland Executive resulting from policy changes will be confirmed at the relevant fiscal event.