Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to extend the scheme providing a £1,000 discount to pubs with a rateable value of less than £100,000; and, if so, whether this plan will cover bookshops.

The Government currently has no plans to extend the pubs' relief scheme. However, the Government has taken action to support small business. It put in place a £3.6 billion package of transitional relief and permanently doubled small business rate relief meaning 600,000 small businesses will pay no business rates at all.

In addition, at the Spring Budget the Government announced £110 million support to help ratepayers losing small business rates relief and rural rate relief – this will ensure increases in their bills this year are capped at £600.

It also included a £300 million discretionary relief fund for local authorities to design their own schemes. Subject to meeting the criteria for local discretionary schemes, bookshops may also be eligible for support from this fund.