Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of business rate reductions for airports in (a) Scotland and (b) Northern Ireland on airports in England.

Business rates are devolved in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The Government has provided enhanced support to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors through business rates relief given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for local authorities on eligible properties.

A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday such as airports, has also been made available. For example, the Government has launched the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help firms keep people in employment, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank backed by an 80% Government guarantee, and is deferring VAT payments for this quarter.