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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many times and on what dates the Business Rates Review Steering Group has met; and if he will make a statement.

The Local Government Association and Department for Communities and Local Government jointly chair the Business Rates Retention Steering Group which was established to consider the mechanisms needed to set up and run the new business rates system, as well as the timetable and implementation of the reforms. It oversees the work of a set of technical working groups, each looking at particular aspects of the reforms. The Group usually meets on a monthly basis and has done so on 6 occasions since April 2016. All papers for meetings are published here: http://www.local.gov.uk/business-rates