Every parliamentary written question tabled by Kevin Hollinrake this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 201–220 of 274 · Treasury
What information the Valuation Office Agency holds on the number of supermarkets that have a rateable value of above £500,000 in England.
This information is published by special category code (Scat) here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-domestic-rating-property-counts-and-rateable-value-rv-for-properties-in-england-with-rv-over-500000 The VOA consider Scat codes 139 Hypermarkets/superstores (over 2500 m2) and 152 Large food stores (750-2500 m2) as supermarkets.
What information her Department holds on when the Valuation Office Agency plans to publish the draft Rateable Values for all hereditaments in England as part of the 2026 business rates revaluation.
In line with Section 41 of The Local Government Finance Act 1988, the VOA will publish the 2026 rating lists in draft on Gov.uk by 31 December 2025.
If she will publish the presentations by the Valuation Office Agency to the International Association of Assessing Officers Annual Conference 2023 between 28 and 30 August 2023.
As outlined in the response to PQ UIN 15200, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will publish further information on the model and its use in supporting the Welsh Government’s Council Tax reform ambitions on GOV.UK before April 2025.The information that will be published will be more up to date and cover similar content to the International Association of Assessing Officers presentations from 2023, so there is no intention to publish these.
If she will publish the independent review into the Valuation Office Agency’s Automated Valuation Model.
As outlined in the response to PQ UIN 15200, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will publish further information on the model and its use in supporting the Welsh Government’s Council Tax reform ambitions on GOV.UK before April 2025.The information that will be published will be more up to date and cover similar content to the International Association of Assessing Officers presentations from 2023, so there is no intention to publish these.
What methodology her Department used to calculate the allowance for public sector bodies for changes to employer National Insurance contributions.
The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs.The amount of public sector support was based on an estimate of the proportion of employer NICs receipts paid by public sector organisations, using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) classification of the public sector boundary. The Treasury routinely uses the Office for National Statistics (ONS) classification of the public sector boundary, for example in relation to public sector spending, public sector borrowing and public sector debt.This is in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.This funding will be allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way.The Government plans to publish the allocations for departments alongside departmental budgets for 2025/26 as part of Main estimates.
Pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 24511 on Property Valuation, if she will publish (a) guidance and (b) correspondence from the Centre for Appraisal Research and Technology to the Valuation Office Agency on the use of the Gaussian Markov Random Fields approach in the automated valuation model.
As outlined in the response to PQ UIN 15200, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will publish further information on the model and its use in supporting the Welsh Government’s Council Tax reform ambitions on GOV.UK before April 2025.The information that will be published will be more up to date and cover similar content to the International Association of Assessing Officers presentations from 2023, so there is no intention to publish these.
What information the Valuation Office Agency holds on the number of dwellings that have (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four or more bedrooms in each local authority in London.
Information regarding the total number of properties on the Council Tax lists in England and Wales are published each year in the Council Tax Stock of Properties publication - www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-tax-stock-of-properties-2024. Latest information is as of 31 March 2024. Table CTSOP3.0 includes all properties in the England (1993) and Wales (2005) Council Tax Valuation Lists by property type and administrative area. The number of bedrooms for each property type are shown by clicking on the plus sign above each column. The summary tables are available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/668545157541f54efe51b926/CTSOP_summary_tables.xlsx
How many dwellings were on the Valuation Office Agency’s valuation list in (a) England and (b) Wales in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) the most recent financial year for which figures are available.
Information regarding the total number of properties (dwellings) on the Council Tax lists in England and Wales are published each year in the Council Tax Stock of Properties publication - www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-tax-stock-of-properties-2024. Latest information is as of 31 March 2024. Table CTSOP1.0 in the summary tables includes all properties in the England (1993) and Wales (1993 and 2005) Council Tax Valuation Lists, as at 1 April 1993 and 31 March for each year between 1994 and 2024. The summary tables are available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/668545157541f54efe51b926/CTSOP_summary_tables.xlsx
What assessment she has made of the potential cumulative impact of the 2026 business rates revaluation on the plans for a new surcharge on hereditaments with a Rateable Value above £500,000; and whether the £500,000 threshold will be uprated to reflect the changes to average Rateable Values following the 2026 revaluation.
The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025, taking account of the outcomes of the 2026 revaluation as well as the broader economic and fiscal context. Tax policy and legislation is not subject to the Better Regulation Framework Guidance which requires an Impact Assessment to accompany policy decisions. Nevertheless, when the new multipliers are set at Budget 2025 – to take effect in the 2026-27 billing year – HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements
Whether the £110,000 cap threshold on retail, hospitality and leisure business rate relief under the multiplier regime will apply from April 2026.
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026-27. Whereas RHL relief currently limits that support to a cash cap of £110,000 per business, the government intends to have no such limit on the new multiplier in order to better ensure more widespread support for the high street.
How the proposed lower multiplier for hospitality, leisure and retail from 2026-27 will interact with small business rate relief; and what estimate she has made of the impact of the lower multiplier on the cost of small business rate relief.
The government is committed to retaining Small Business Rate Relief, which is a permanent relief set down in legislation. Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) is available to businesses with a single property below a set rateable value. Eligible properties under £12,000 receive 100 per cent relief, which means over a third of businesses in England (more than 700,000) pay no business rates at all. There is also tapered support available to properties valued between £12,000 and £15,000.Business rates bills are calculated by applying the relevant multiplier before reliefs are applied.
How business ratepayers with multiple qualifying hereditaments across different local authorities will have retail, hospitality and leisure business rate relief capped.
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026-27. Ahead of these changes being made, the Government recognises that businesses will need support in 2025-26. As such, we have prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. Local authorities determine eligibility for relief in line with central government guidance.
Pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2025 to Question 22322 on Housing: Pylons, whether her Department is taking steps to help increase awareness of the right to submit a proposal to alter the Council Tax list.
Guidance on the right to submit a proposal (formal challenge) against a Council Tax band and changes that may affect a property’s band is published at the following links:Challenge your Council Tax band: Overview - GOV.UK.How Council Tax works: Working out your Council Tax - GOV.UK.The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) proactively raises awareness of the guidance, and in addition has created and promotes other bespoke content clearly explaining how customers can challenge their Council Tax band. This is shared on social media, gov.uk and with partner organisations, e.g. local authorities, on a regular on-going basis.
What assessment she has made of the impact of family-owned businesses on the local economy; and what assessment has she made of the potential impact of changes to the Business Property Relief on local communities.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government took a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to restore economic stability, fix the public finances, and support public services. These were tough decisions given the situation we inherited from the previous administration, but the Government has taken them in a way that makes the tax system fairer and more sustainable.The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of increased availability of long-term fixed-rate mortgages on first-time buyers.
While the design and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene, this Government welcomes innovation in the mortgage market, particularly where this provides borrowers with the greatest choice possible about the level of interest rate risk that they are willing to take on. Lenders in the UK already do offer this type of mortgage product, and any borrowers, including first-time buyers, looking to take out a long-term fixed rate mortgage are encouraged to shop around and speak to a broker to find the best possible product for their circumstances.
What assessment she has made of the potential role of long-term fixed-rate mortgages in enabling more first-time buyers to get on the property ladder.
While the design and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene, this Government welcomes innovation in the mortgage market, particularly where this provides borrowers with the greatest choice possible about the level of interest rate risk that they are willing to take on. Lenders in the UK already do offer this type of mortgage product, and any borrowers, including first-time buyers, looking to take out a long-term fixed rate mortgage are encouraged to shop around and speak to a broker to find the best possible product for their circumstances.
Pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2024 to Question 16945 on Business Rates, if she will make an estimate of business rates receipts for (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 for England only.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) publish non-domestic ratings receipts data and forecasts for the financial year ahead in England. As such, projections for non-domestic rates income for 2025-26 will be published in due course by MHCLG. For 2024-25, local authorities estimate the non-domestic rating income to be £26.3 billion: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-2024-to-2025/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-for-2024-to-2025
Whether any private sector companies contracted to her Department will receive increased payments for the increase in employer National Insurance contributions.
Reviewing contractual payment provisions is dependent on the applicable terms and conditions of individual agreements. Supplier requests for such pricing reviews would be considered as part of standard contract management practice.
If she will make an assessment of the potential cumulative impact of the (a) increase in National Insurance contributions, (b) changes to the level of retail, hospitality and leisure rate business relief from 2025-26 and (c) changes to the business rate surcharge on properties above £500,000 Rateable Value from 2026-27.
To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to support public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest employers which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. A Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the employer NICs changes was published by HMRC on 13 November 2024. Without any government intervention, Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government has decided to offer a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025-26 and frozen the small business multiplier. From 2026-27 we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties on 2026-27 - those with rateable values of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but capturing the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants. The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025. Tax policy and legislation is not subject to the Better Regulation Framework Guidance which requires an Impact Assessment to accompany policy decisions. Nevertheless, when the new multipliers are set at Budget 2025, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements. The Non-Domestic Ratings Bill sets out the parameters within which the government proposes the multipliers would be set by Treasury regulations.
Whether free schools will be affected by changes to charitable business rate relief for schools.
The Government is legislating to remove the eligibility of private schools in England to business rates charitable rate relief. The Government has defined a “private school” as a school at which full time education is provided for pupils of compulsory school age, where fees or other consideration are payable for that provision of full-time education. Legally, free schools are academies so do not charge fees for education. Therefore, they will not be impacted by the removal of charitable rate relief from private schools.