Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have approved a financial ceiling for public support to British Steel and, if so, what it is.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Longer-term funding for British Steel is subject to agreement with HM Treasury once plans for the site are finalised and will be subject to further ministerial decisions. We continue to work with Jingye to find a pragmatic, realistic solution for the future of BSL. In the interim, as a public corporation, BSL continues trading commercially with the objective of minimising losses to the taxpayer. All support for BSL has been drawn from existing HMG budgets, with no additional borrowing required.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what comparative analysis they have undertaken of total visitor costs in the UK versus competitor destinations; and what assessment they have made of the potential impact of an overnight visitor levy on the UK’s relative attractiveness to international tourists.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Visitor levies are common in Europe and the rest of the world. All other G7 countries already have some form of tourism or overnight accommodation levy in place.
On the 26th of November 2025, the Government opened a consultation seeking views on the design of a new Mayoral power to create visitor levies on overnight stays in England. It contained questions on who will be granted this power, which powers will be devolved, the allocation and use of revenue funds, consultation and consent requirements, administration of the levy, its scope and the rate structure. The consultation closed on the 18th of February 2026.
The Government has engaged with the tourism sector through the consultation process. Evidence from international and domestic schemes suggested modest rates have minimal impact on visitor numbers. Mayors will need to decide whether to implement a levy, and, if so, consult on specific proposals. This will inform their decisions regarding whether and how a levy will be applied and how any revenue is invested.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have benchmarked the UK’s overall tax burden on visitors against that of other major international tourism markets prior to considering the introduction of an overnight visitor levy.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Visitor levies are common in Europe and the rest of the world. All other G7 countries already have some form of tourism or overnight accommodation levy in place.
On the 26th of November 2025, the Government opened a consultation seeking views on the design of a new Mayoral power to create visitor levies on overnight stays in England. It contained questions on who will be granted this power, which powers will be devolved, the allocation and use of revenue funds, consultation and consent requirements, administration of the levy, its scope and the rate structure. The consultation closed on the 18th of February 2026.
The Government has engaged with the tourism sector through the consultation process. Evidence from international and domestic schemes suggested modest rates have minimal impact on visitor numbers. Mayors will need to decide whether to implement a levy, and, if so, consult on specific proposals. This will inform their decisions regarding whether and how a levy will be applied and how any revenue is invested.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cumulative financial impact on hospitality businesses of an overnight visitor levy alongside existing cost pressures, including energy prices, wage growth, and taxation.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government carefully considers the impact of tax measures on communities as well as on hospitality and tourism sectors. Evidence from international and domestic schemes suggested modest rates have minimal impact on visitor numbers.
Where changes are made to tax policy, relevant impact notes and assessments are published at fiscal events and otherwise as necessary in line with the government’s usual practice.
The overnight visitor levy would be a discretionary power for Mayors, who would be responsible for considering its local economic impact, including on hotels, consumers and visitor numbers. Mayors will need to decide whether to implement a levy, subject to a local consultation on specific proposals. This consultation will inform their decisions regarding whether and how a levy will be applied, and how any revenue is invested in their region.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of an overnight visitor levy on rural and coastal businesses which rely heavily on domestic tourism.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government carefully considers the impact of tax measures on communities as well as on hospitality and tourism sectors. Evidence from international and domestic schemes suggested modest rates have minimal impact on visitor numbers.
Where changes are made to tax policy, relevant impact notes and assessments are published at fiscal events and otherwise as necessary in line with the government’s usual practice.
The overnight visitor levy would be a discretionary power for Mayors, who would be responsible for considering its local economic impact, including on hotels, consumers and visitor numbers. Mayors will need to decide whether to implement a levy, subject to a local consultation on specific proposals. This consultation will inform their decisions regarding whether and how a levy will be applied, and how any revenue is invested in their region.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of potential litigation relating to (1) asset valuation, (2) debt liability, or (3) interference with shareholder rights, in relation to British Steel.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government will always abide by our legal obligations and offer fair treatment to all businesses. This includes meeting our responsibilities under the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act.
We are currently in close discussions with the owner of British Steel to agree a pragmatic and commercial solution to the current situation. We do not comment on the content of these live discussions.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in designing the compensation scheme required under section 7 of the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act (2025) in relation to British Steel.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We continue to work with Jingye to find a pragmatic, realistic solution for the future of British Steel. This will include provision for a compensation scheme upon the end of the intervention under the Act, should there be a claim that the intervention caused loss.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the review of the impact of increased rateable values on hotels.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has heard concerns from hotels about how they are valued for business rates and has committed to reviewing this. The review will report in time for any decisions that follow to be implemented for the 2029 revaluation.
The Government will set out more detail of the review in due course. Hotels will continue to benefit from the £4.3 billion support package announced at the Budget, including the transitional relief scheme which will cap bill increases.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they plan to introduce to support businesses in the light of business rates increases.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the Valuation Office Agency (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.
To support with bill increases, at the Budget in November 2025, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, including to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down next year. This also 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 permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, while ensuring that warehouses used by online giants will pay more.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they consulted representatives of the hospitality and pub sectors before finalising the changes to business-rates multipliers and reliefs contained in the 2025 Budget; and what plans they have to engage with industry bodies on this subject.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government carried out engagement with a range of stakeholders on business rates ahead of the budget and continues to do so.
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.
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. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect 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 support also means that 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 permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
Without Government support, pubs would have faced a 45% increase in the total bills they pay next year. However, because of the support the Government has put in place, this has fallen to just 4%.