Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of a 20p reduction in the business rates multipliers on trends in the level of pub closures over the next five years.

The Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026/27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that pubs benefit from much-needed certainty and support.

These new multipliers cannot be lower than 20p less than the small business multiplier. These legislative minimum rates should not be taken as the intended rates for the new multipliers. Rather, they provide flexibility to adapt to the outcomes of the 2026 revaluation.

The Government is carefully considering the impact of the new business rates multipliers on different RHL businesses. The rates will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take the revaluation into account, as well as the economic and fiscal context.