Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Business Rates policy on employment in hospitality-dependent areas.

The Government has announced a £4.3 billion business rates support package to protect ratepayers from large overnight increases in bills.

In addition, the Government is introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible RHL properties. These are worth almost £1 billion per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

On top of this, pubs and live music venues will also benefit from 15% off their new business rates bills, ahead of their bills being frozen in real terms for a further two years.

As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases next year, including 23% seeing their bills go down. Government support also means that most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.