Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Greater London Authority supplementary business rate arising from increases in Rateable Values from the 2026 business rates revaluation on the business rates of medium-size pubs in London in 2026-27.

The Greater London Authority currently levies a Business Rates Supplement (BRS) to fund the costs of the Crossrail project (renamed Elizabeth line in 2016). The Mayor of London approved the Crossrail Business Rate Supplement policies for 2026-27 via a formal decision published on 16 January 2026, increasing the rateable value threshold above which the BRS applies from £75,000 to £92,000 from 1 April 2026 in line with average percentage increase in rateable values. In line with the requirements of the Crossrail BRS final prospectus published when the supplement was introduced in 2010-11, the Mayor is required to increase the threshold in line with the average change in rateable values in London at each revaluation. The intent of this threshold increase is to ensure that the total number of ratepayers liable to pay the BRS remains broadly unchanged each year.

On 27 January the government announced that for 2026/27 it was providing a further 15% business rates relief to pubs and live music venues on top of the support already announced at the Budget. Where business rate reliefs are implemented under section 47 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, such as the Pubs and Live Music Venues Relief Scheme, Business Rates Supplements are adjusted to reflect the percentage relief provided by those schemes in line with the requirements of section 13(7) of the Business Rates Supplement Act 2009. It is for the 33 London billing authorities and the Greater London Authority to ensure that the required determinations and resulting adjustments are made to ratepayer bills in respect of BRS liabilities.