Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral statement of 27 January 2026, Official Report, Col. 770, on business rates, what the evidential basis is that around three quarters of pubs will see their bills either fall or stay the same next year; what number of bills will remain the same; and what number of pubs were at the £110k cap for RHL relief in 2025-26.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The statistic is based on analysis conducted by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) using property-level data on rateable values from the Valuation Office Agency, and local authority returns on the value of reliefs and the number of properties receiving reliefs, published in MHCLG’s National Non-Domestic Rates statistics.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 30 of the Budget 2025 policy costings document, published in November 2025, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for the change in business rate RHL multipliers between 2026-27 and 2027-28.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) multipliers being introduced from April are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties in England.
The Exchequer impact of the new RHL multipliers can be found on page 30 of the ‘Policy costings’ document, published at the Budget and found online at this address: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf
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, what the status is of each locality within the Devolution Priority Programme.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Government will establish Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the Devolution Priority Programme areas as quickly as possible following the consent of the constituent councils.
The Combined Authorities for Cumbria and Cheshire & Warrington were established on 24 February. Legislation establishing a Sussex and Brighton strategic authority has been laid before Parliament. We are firmly committed to delivering mayoral devolution as quickly as possible in the other three Devolution Priority Programme areas: Hampshire and the Solent; Norfolk and Suffolk and Greater Essex. We will continue to work closely with all Devolution Priority Programme areas.
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, what recent representations his Department has received on the compatibility of leasehold and commonhold reform with the European Convention of Human Rights.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department has received representations from a range of external stakeholders regarding the government’s leasehold and commonhold reform agenda. These have included representations regarding property rights.
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, pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 107987 on Planning Permission, whether his Department holds a list of (a) councils with Article 4 directions in force and (b) types of development Article 4 directions apply to.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
While Local Planning Authorities are required to send a copy of all Article 4 directions to the Secretary of State when made, my Department does not hold a record of those currently in force.
A full list of permitted development rights is set out in Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 107997 on Council tax, valuation, if she will publish the list of Value Significant Codes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Value Significant Codes are used internally by the Valuation Office Agency to indicate specific features that are likely to affect the value of a property – there are therefore no plans to publish these.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2026 to Question 108649 on Valuation Office Agency: Training, if she will list the titles of the 400 internal training opportunities in relation to council tax and business rates.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The VOA training modules are for internal use only and are not routinely published.
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, what the planning use class is of a data centre; and whether change of use planning permission is required for an office to become a data centre.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
What use class any given proposal for a data centre will fall into will depend on the individual circumstances of the case.
An application for planning permission will generally be needed in order to change use of an office to a data centre.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the council tax surcharge and the ordinary council tax charge for new builds will be based on different antecedent valuation dates from April 2028.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Council Tax bands are based on the price a property could have sold for on a fixed date set in law. The High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) is in addition to Council Tax. This will be a new charge on owners of residential property in England worth £2 million or more in 2026, taking effect in 2028. The precise antecedent valuation date for HVCTS has not yet been set in legislation.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2026, to Question 108650, on Gardens: Council tax, whether there is internal guidance on how gardens are valued for council tax, other than prevailing legislation.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Where a dwelling includes a garden, then this will be reflected in the valuation subject to the legislative framework. The Valuation Office Agency’s internal guidance on when gardens are included in the valuation can be found in the Council Tax Manual, published online here.