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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reduction of National Non Domestic Rates receipts in 2020–21 consequent upon COVID19; and what discussions they have had with the Local Government Association and councils about the impact of that virus on the operation of the Business Rates Retention Scheme and local authority budgets in succeeding years.

The Government is in on-going discussions with local authorities and their representative bodies, including the Local Government Association, to understand the impact that Covid-19 is having on councils’ funding, including non-domestic rating income. As a result of those discussions, we have announced the suspension of the planned reforms to the local government finance system, including the Review of Relative Needs and Resources (the ‘Fair Funding Review’) and the increase to 75% business rates retention. These were due to be introduced in 2020-21 and would have complicated councils’ financial planning at a time when the impact of Covid-19 on present and future business rates income is still uncertain. We have also introduced measures worth over £5 billion to ease the immediate cashflow pressures caused by reductions in local authority revenues. We will continue to work with councils and their representative bodies to understand the on-going impact of the pandemic on councils’ finances and capacity.