Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading
173Ayes
335Noes
Defeated · majority 162 · Government won139 did not vote
647 Members · Aye 173 · No 335 · DNV 139 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
Parliament voted on 25 November 2024 on a Conservative reasoned amendment to block the second reading of the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill. A reasoned amendment is a procedural device to reject a bill at the outset before it proceeds through Parliament. The amendment was defeated by 335 votes to 173, meaning the bill continued to its next stage. The bill does two things. It removes charitable business rates relief from private schools in England that hold charitable status, effective from April 2025, while retaining an exemption for schools that mainly serve pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans. It also gives the Treasury powers to introduce lower multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure premises with rateable values below £500,000, and higher multipliers for those valued at £500,000 or above, from April 2026. By voting down the amendment, MPs allowed the bill to proceed, advancing Labour's plan to end tax breaks for private schools and deliver what the government describes as a permanent business rates cut for smaller high street businesses. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 291 voting Labour and 35 Labour and Co-operative MPs opposed the amendment, while all 98 voting Conservatives and all 61 voting Liberal Democrats supported it, placing the two main opposition parties on the same side. Reform UK's four voting MPs and the two voting Democratic Unionists also backed the amendment. Four Independents voted to block the bill and four voted to allow it to proceed. The result was consistent with subsequent votes at report stage in January 2025, where similar amendments were defeated by comparable margins.
Voting Aye meant
Support blocking the bill, opposing the removal of charitable rate relief from private schools and questioning the impact of business rates changes on small businesses already under pressure from rising employer National Insurance contributions.
Voting No meant
Support the bill proceeding, backing Labour's manifesto commitment to end tax breaks for private schools and fund a £2.3 billion increase in state school budgets, while delivering a permanent business rates cut for high street retail, hospitality and leisure.
Each row is one party. The stacked bar gives the within-party split of Aye / No / Absent; the columns on the right give the raw counts. The whip column shows the published party position — “Free vote” means the whip was formally removed for this division.
Party
Whip
Aye / No / Abs
Aye
No
Abs
Labour Party
Whipped No
0
291
70
Conservative and Unionist Party
Whipped Aye
98
0
18
Liberal Democrats
Whipped Aye
61
0
10
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped No
0
35
7
Independent
—
6
4
4
Scottish National Party
—
0
0
9
Reform UK
Whipped Aye
4
0
3
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
—
2
0
3
Green Party of England and Wales
Whipped No
0
4
0
Plaid Cymru
—
0
0
4
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
0
0
2
Your Party
—
0
2
0
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
0
0
1
Restore Britain
—
1
0
0
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
1
0
0
Ulster Unionist Party
—
1
0
0
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
Bill delivers permanent tax cuts for high streets, extends temporary relief to 40%, and funds £2.3bn schools investment by removing private school tax breaks; includes safeguards for SEND provision.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (3,910 words) →
Bill is a stealth tax on business breaking manifesto promises; cuts relief from 75% to 40%, imposes £925m rise in rates, and the private school measures will drive 90,000 pupils into already under-capacity state schools.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (2,846 words) →
Bill is inadequate tinkering rather than fundamental business rates reform; removes temporary relief cliff-edge but creates new problems; taxing education in principle is wrong; lacks impact assessment and may inadvertently subsidise big chains.Liberal Democrat · Voted aye · Read full speech (1,754 words) →
Bill essential to fund state education after decade of austerity; removes unfair tax breaks allowing wealthy families advantage; supports high-needs SEND funding uplift of £1bn.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,781 words) →
Business rates particularly problematic due to fixed-cost nature; Bill fails to distinguish online from traditional retail; total revenue raised will increase not stay same; will cause displacement into state schools creating local strain.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (1,987 words) →
Supports permanent high-street rate cuts and ending private school tax breaks; but urges safeguards for smaller faith and independent schools charging £3k fees that serve deprived communities.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,545 words) →
As former teacher, supports removing private school tax exemptions; state schools lack basic supplies while private schools enjoy advantages; £1.5bn will transform state education.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (810 words) →
Cumulative impact of NI rises, Employment Rights Bill, and business rates cuts will devastate small businesses; demands Government publish impact assessments and statistics on pupils moving to state sector.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (327 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0