Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward proposals to enable small businesses to claim a rates reduction to help them retain staff.

As announced at the Autumn Statement, the Government has introduced in England a £1 billion package of business rates support for 2014-15. That includes the continued doubling of Small Business Rate Relief for a further year which we estimate will support 540,000 businesses. The Localism Act has also made it easier for small firms to claim the rate relief to which they are entitled. This support builds on the £11 billion a year of tax cuts this government has announced to corporation tax, employer National Insurance Contributions and fuel duty.

Business rates in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly.