Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of excluding soft play centres and other family focused venues from the 15 per cent business rates discount for pubs and music venues on those businesses; and whether she plans to extend equivalent relief to venues serving children, parents and carers.

Pubs rents in business rates valuations are analysed differently to some other sectors. While most hospitality and leisure properties are valued by comparing the size of the property, pubs are valued by comparing their turnover potential. Industry bodies have highlighted concerns with how costs are accounted for in this methodology, particularly during periods of high inflation. There is significant overlap between the pub sector and live music venues, with many pubs serving as grassroots live music venues, meaning they are often valued for business rates purposes in a similar way.

The new pubs and live music venues relief is on top of the £4.3 billion support package announced at the Budget to support ratepayers across all sectors seeing bill increases. As a result of the Budget package, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases. This also means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

The Government is also introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including soft play centres. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.