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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the amount of revenue to the Exchequer foregone due to partial exemptions from business rates for charity shops in each of the last five years.

The total amount of relief from business rates granted to charities (including charity shops) in England in each of the last five years is as follows:

2009-10 - £955 million

2010-11 - £1,009 million

2011-12 - £1,171 million

2012-13 - £1,332 million

2013-14 - £1,439 million

The figures include both mandatory charity relief, which local authorities must grant, and discretionary charity relief, which is granted at an authorities’ discretion. The figures include both relief granted in respect of the current year and also adjustments made in respect of previous years.