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 23 January 2026, to Question 106115, on Business Rates: Luton, what is his department's estimate of the amount of retained business rate income that Luton Borough Council will receive in 2026-27, and whether this amount is affected by the uplift in business rates from the 2026 revaluation of Luton Airport, and introduction of the high value surcharge for hereditaments.

Luton Borough Council reported their estimate of retained business rates for 2026-27 to the department here in the document ‘National non-domestic rates collected in England 2026 to 2027: local authority data’, in the ‘Part 1' tab and on line 14.

I refer the Rt.hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 107993 on 28 January 2026, regarding the interaction of the 2026 Revaluation with local authority income.

It is long-standing government policy intention that as far as is practicable, local authorities’ income should not be affected by changes to the underlying business rates tax, such as the introduction of the three additional multipliers from 1^st April 2026. The government intends to neutralise the impact of new multipliers on local government income from retained business rates from introduction of the three new multipliers from 1^st April 2026. More information on how it will do so was published in a policy paper in November which can be found here.