Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the average business rates charged to nurseries in England, and (2) the cost of exempting early years providers from business rates.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for valuing non-domestic property for business rates purposes. Based on VOA data from April 2023, the mean rateable value (RV) for a day nursery or play school in England is £26,400. This indicates that, before applying any relevant reliefs, an average nursery in England would pay around £13,175 in business rates for 2023-24.

The sector has a total RV of around £320 million and represents nearly half a percent of England’s RV. The Government keeps the tax system under review.

At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a freeze to the business rates multiplier. This third consecutive freeze supports all ratepayers, including Early Years businesses, and means bills are 6% lower than without the freeze.