Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure

Debate between Jonathan Davies and Dan Tomlinson

Monday 19th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

One of the challenges with the questions I am being asked by Opposition Members is that they seem to be suggesting that the Government should not have gone ahead with the post-pandemic revaluations. Those revaluations were set in train by the previous Government. I do not know about the hon. Member, but I think that, if businesses in his constituency or mine have seen a decrease in their rateable values since the pandemic, for whatever reason, it is right that the system is updated to reflect their post-pandemic values. That is what we have done. He cites a particular example. Of course there will be businesses that see increases in their rateable values, and that is precisely why we have stepped in, with the Chancellor announcing £4.3 billion of transitional support at the Budget last year.

[Jonathan Davies (Mid Derbyshire) (Lab)]

I welcome the assurance that half of businesses will see their business rates flat or falling, and that is even after the end of the covid-era support and the post-pandemic review initiated by the previous Government. Research by the Music Venue Trust estimates that 600 grassroots music venues may see quite significant rises, probably because of the revaluation. Significant areas backstage are dedicated to production and performance and cannot be used for revenue raising. Will the Minister meet me and sector representatives so that we can understand the issue better together?

[Dan Tomlinson]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. Many grassroots music venues are valued as pubs. Intricacies and complexities in the business rates system mean that, when we think of pubs, it is important also to think of grassroots music venues up and down the country. We must provide support to them and to other businesses. That is why the Government stepped in with the £4.3 billion of transitional protection, over £2 billion of which will be in place this year.

Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

Debate between Jonathan Davies and Dan Tomlinson

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

Government decisions are made collectively. Yes, the Government have listened to farming communities and farming businesses, and to representatives of family businesses that would also have been affected by the £1 million BPR threshold, which was the same as the APR threshold.

[Jonathan Davies (Mid Derbyshire) (Lab)]

It was very welcome news that the Government had revisited the issues of business property relief, which will help family businesses in my constituency, and agricultural property relief, which means that up to £5 million can be passed on by a qualifying couple. It was also right that the Government considered this area as a whole, because too many people, including famous folk off the telly, had bought such properties with a view to insulating themselves against tax. Can the Minister assure me that we will take steps to support our farming community by not selling them down the river with dodgy trade deals, as we saw with Australia and New Zealand under the previous Government, and that we will work closely with our European export partners? Will he also ensure that the SFI and other subsidies get to where they need and are spent in a timely way, because they went unspent under the previous Government?

[Dan Tomlinson]

My hon. Friend is right to mention the disastrous trade deals that happened under the previous Government, and I thank him for giving me the chance to mention the trade deals that we have implemented, which seek to support businesses across the country to access more markets. I hope that, with our continued engagement with the European Union, we can continue to do that closer to home, too.