Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total cost of the Business Rates relief introduced in March 2020 has been to the Treasury.

According to the national non-domestic rates data collected by local authorities, the cost of the retail, hospitality, and leisure relief was £11.1 billion in 2020-21, and is expected to be £5.8 billion in 2021-22. This data is published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils

This support means that eligible properties paid no business rates for 15 months from 1 April 2020. Additionally, due to the 66 per cent capped relief which took effect on 1 July 2021, over 90 per cent of eligible businesses will see a 75 per cent reduction in their business rates bill across this entire financial year to next April.