Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government for what reason the Valuation Office Agency published official statistics for the combination of Rateable Values in special category codes broken down by local authority for the 2023 Rating List, but has not published combined statistics for the 2026 Rating List; and whether the Head of Profession for Statistics has been consulted on the discrepancy, in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, Edition 3.0, published in October 2025.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency published a Special Category code and local authority breakdown as part of the annual `Non-domestic rating: stock of properties, 2025` official statistics.
HMRC will publish a Special Category code and local authority breakdown for the end of the 2023 list position (31 March 2026) on 14 May 2026 in the annual `NDR: Stock of Properties` publication. In the following year, HMRC will publish the first `NDR: Stock of Properties` publication which will include a Special Category code and local authority breakdown for the 2026 list. This is consistent with the data that has previously been published in official statistics by the Valuation Office Agency. The departmental Head of Profession for Statistics was regularly consulted and aware of VOA statistical publications.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 26 October 2009 (HC col 140W), on housing valuation, how many and what proportion of dwellings in (1) Wales, and (2) England, are now recorded on the Valuation Office Agency's database with (a) dwellinghouse, and (b) value significant code, data.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As of 14 April 2026 there are 25,950,670 dwellings on the Council Tax list in England. Of these, 25,781,260 (99.3%) have a dwelling group, and 25,784,950 (99.4%) have a dwelling type, and 6,755,400 (26.0%) have at least one value significant code.
In Wales, there are 1,494,410 dwellings on the Council Tax list. Of these, 1,494,180 (>99.9%) have a dwelling group, and 1,494,060 (>99.9%) have a dwelling type. 403,610 (27.0%) have at least one value significant code.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the Core Spending Power table: final local government finance settlement 2026–27 to 2028–29, published on 9 February, and the associated council tax requirement estimates for each year from 2024–25 to 2028–29 in England, whether they will publish equivalent estimates for the total business rate receipts in England in each of those years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2026 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, business rates receipts in England were £32.1 billion in 2024/25 and are forecast to be £33.7 billion, £37.1 billion, £37.9 billion and £38.8 billion in 2025/26, 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29 respectively.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what their latest estimate is of the level of total business rate receipts to be raised in England in (1) 2025-26, (2) 2026-27, and (3) 2027-28; and what their working estimate is of the cost of the new Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief in each year of the 2026 revaluation cycle.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Details on business rates receipts for FY25/26, FY26/27and FY27/28 are set out in the OBR’s economic and fiscal outlook. Forecast receipts are £33.7bn, £37.1bn and £37.9bn respectively.
The further support for pubs and live music venues was scored at the Spring Statement. The impacts on total receipts in FY26/27, FY27/28 and FY28/29 are £94m, £138m and £204m respectively.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 3 November about the removal of the lower rate of landfill tax, what types of inert construction waste they plan to be reused elsewhere.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget in November 2025, the Government set out its decisions in response to the consultation on reform to Landfill Tax which ran earlier this year. The Government has listened to the arguments made by businesses, particularly in the construction sector, and has decided that now is not the right time to converge to a single rate of tax. Instead, the Government has announced a plan to prevent the gap between the two rates getting any wider over the coming years which ensures that businesses will not face significant additional costs. In addition, the tax exemption for backfilling quarries will be retained to ensure that businesses continue to have access to a low-cost alternative to landfill.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Spending Review 2025, what estimate they used of the amount available from council tax receipts in each year of the Spending Review in (1) England, and (2) Wales, to calculate the 1.7 per cent per year real increase in police spending power over the Spending Review period; and whether they will place a copy of the calculations and data used to produce that figure in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Police core spending power refers to the projected total police settlement funding for Counter Terrorism Police and Territorial Police. The Spending Review (SR) Phase 2 settlement projected an average 1.7% real terms increase per year in police spending power. Over the SR period, police spending power is projected to increase by an average 2.3% per year in real terms.
Police core spending power includes projected spending from additional income, including estimated funding from the police council tax precept. The final police precept level and core government funding will be set out in the annual police funding settlement in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a treehouse within the curtilage of a domestic dwelling is deemed to be a material consideration by the Valuation Office Agency when a property is valued for council tax in Wales.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency considers each property valuation on a case-by-case basis, considering the impact that any features could have on the property’s value and whether any such features would be classified as a self-contained unit.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government why there are different business rate liabilities for fee-charging (1) standalone nursery schools, and (2) nurseries within the curtilage of independent schools.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Private schools in England no longer benefit from business rates charitable rate relief. The definition of a private school is set out in the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Act. This definition includes private schools with nursery classes, which, despite the presence of some nursery provision are, by their nature, private schools.
Standalone nursery schools with their own business rates assessments remain eligible for charitable rate relief if they are eligible charities. This approach best ensures consistency with the underlying policy intent to remove eligibility from private schools.