Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing the full 20p discount to the business rates multiplier for retail, hospitality and leisure on the hospitality sector.

The 5p reduction in the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) multipliers is worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties. Unlike RHL relief, the new multipliers are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

The Government is paying for this through a high-value multiplier on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. This includes many large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants. The high value multiplier is 33% more than the multiplier for small RHL properties.

Legislation set the maximum reduction to 20p as the bounds within which the Government could choose to operate, rather than a commitment to reduce the multipliers by this amount.