Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of how many small firms and shops in (a) England and (b) the Northumberland County Council area have been affected by the recent reduction in business rates.

We have introduced a £1 billion business rate support package for 2014-15 including:

– a 2% cap in the Retail Price Index increase in the small business rates multiplier

– a retail discount of £1,000 for around 300,000 shops, pubs and restaurants with rateable values below £50,000

– a 12 month extension of small business rate relief doubling, benefitting over half a million businesses

– a 50 per cent discount for new occupants of long-term vacant shops, and

– allowing ratepayers to pay bills over 12 instalments.

In the attached tables, Table 1 give figures for Northumberland Unitary Authority and Table 2 gives figures for England.