Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 64507 on Business Rates, if she will publish the written responses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The interim report will provide a summary of responses to the Transforming Business Rates discussion paper.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the new retail, hospitality and leisure multiplier from 2026-27 will be higher in (a) value and (b) scope than the 2025-26 RHL relief.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
Ahead of these new multipliers being introduced, 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.
Eligibility for the new RHL multipliers is intended to broadly reflect the scope of the existing RHL relief scheme, and will be set out in legislation later this year.
The rates of the RHL multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2025 to Question 63629 on Civil Servants: Training, what was the definition of Islamophobia used in the anti-Islamophobia training for civil servants; and whether (a) handouts and (b) documentation was provided as part of the training events.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury does not hold any materials used by the supplier for the event, including any definitions given. No handouts or documentation were provided as part of the events.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2025 to Question 63677 on Business Rates: Valuation, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in business rates on (a) the flexible workplace sector and (b) serviced offices as a result of the changes in valuation practices on such hereditaments; and how many such hereditaments have had their Rateable Values changed by the Valuation Office Agency.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The VOA must apply the law to the facts on a case-by-case basis. It does not hold data on business rates liabilities as billing and collection is the responsibility of local authorities.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2025 to Question 64049 on Alcoholic Drinks, what the evidential basis is that the exclusion of the direct manufacture of alcohol beverages is in line with international conventions for green bond frameworks.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The twenty largest sovereign green bond issuers to date are: Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Japan, Ireland, Spain, Canada, India, Hungary, Chile, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Poland and Denmark. This is according to the International Capital Markets Association sustainable bond issuers database.
The following issuers explicitly exclude the financing of alcohol-related spending in their green bond frameworks: Germany, the UK, Italy, Austria, Ireland, Spain, Canada, India, Chile, Singapore, Australia, Poland and Denmark.
France’s green bond framework excludes “Production or trading of alcoholic beverages (excluding beer and wine)”. Indonesia does not refer explicitly to excluding alcohol but issues green Sukuk (Sharia-compliant bonds). The other countries’ frameworks do not include alcohol-related spending in their eligible or ineligible criteria.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether transitional relief in the 2026 business rates revaluation will be funded by (a) the Exchequer, (b) higher multipliers, and (c) downward phasing.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government provides transitional relief to support ratepayers seeing large bill increases as a result of revaluations.
Only once we understand the complete 2026 revaluation picture will the Government be in a position to make final decisions, at Budget 2025, on the transitional relief scheme.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to retain Small Business Rates Relief at its current level for the duration of this Parliament.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) is available to businesses with a single property with a rateable value (RV) below the threshold of £15,000. If a business expands to a second property, it retains SBRR on the first property for 12 months. Following that, the business is not eligible for SBRR unless additional properties have an RV below £2,899 and their total property portfolio has an RV below £20,000 (£28,000 in London). Currently, over a third of properties (more than 700,000) pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent SBRR, with an additional c.60,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.
The Government is committed to retaining SBRR, which is a permanent relief set down in legislation. As highlighted in the Transforming Business Rates Discussion Paper published at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government is interested in hearing stakeholders’ views on the extent to which the current system acts as a barrier to investment and specifically, whether the current eligibility criteria for SBRR impacts businesses' incentives to invest and expand into a second property.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2025 to Question 60137 on Council tax and Police: Finance, what her Department's assumption is of the amount that will be raised in council tax from police precepts in England only in each year of the Spending Review period.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
As set out in the Spending Review (SR) 2025 document, published 11 June 2025, the Phase 2 settlement provides 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 spending power includes projected spending from additional income, including estimated funding from the police council tax precept.
However, this remains subject to final decision on precept levels and individual police and crime commissioner decisions. 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: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Valuation Office Agency: May 2025 transparency data, published on 30 June 2025, what the spending on consultancy by (a) Eunoia Consulting Ltd and (b) Posterity Milestone Consortium was for.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Details of these contracts are available on Contracts Finder at the following links:
· Professional Services: Client Side Delivery Partner to Support Initial Beta Stage, NDR Reforms Programme - Contracts FinderAsked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate the Valuation Office Agency has made of the (a) percentage and (b) cash terms monetary change in average private sector rents for dwellings in (i) London and (ii) England since July 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) publishes this information monthly, based on information collected by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). The latest publication was released on 18 June 2025 at: Private rent and house prices, UK - Office for National Statistics and includes the 12 months leading up to May 2025.
As of May 2025: