Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the effect on revenue to the Exchequer of allowing devolved local authorities to keep 100 per cent of the business rates raised from car parks in (a) the UK, (b) England and (c) Wiltshire in each of the next three years.

On 5^th October we announced plans to reform business rates in England, a change that will see local government retaining all revenue for the first time since 1990. The new powers will come with new responsibilities and the phasing out of grants from Whitehall to ensure that the reforms are fiscally neutral. Over the course of the next eighteen months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme. Ahead of final decisions, it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas.