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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 8 October (HC294199), when the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will (1) launch, and (2) conclude, its review of the effectiveness of the Check, Challenge, Appeal system; and whether business rates payers will be consulted as part of such a review.

The Government remains committed to the Check, Challenge, Appeal system. As the full impact of the policy can only be assessed after the end of the appeals cycle, my Department intends to first conduct an interim review of the reforms, with a fuller review following after the end of the 2017 rating list. The Government intends to complete the interim review by the end of 2019. The VOA is also conducting a customer evaluation of the delivery of the new system, which will include consultation with a range of stakeholders.