Non Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill: Motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 15

On 25 March 2025, MPs voted by 319 to 166 to reject Lords Amendment 15 to the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill. The motion asked the Commons to disagree with a change the House of Lords had inserted into the bill, effectively restoring the government's original text. The government won comfortably. The bill does two things: it reforms the business rates multiplier system and removes the charitable rate relief that private schools in England have historically received. Lords Amendment 15 had sought to alter the private schools element. By voting to disagree with that amendment, MPs cleared the way for the government's original approach to stand. The vote is one stage in the parliamentary back-and-forth between the two chambers known as ping-pong, where each house attempts to resolve disagreements over specific clauses. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 314 Labour and Labour-Co-operative MPs who voted backed the government. All 101 Conservative MPs who voted, all 63 Liberal Democrats, all four Reform UK MPs, five Democratic Unionist Party MPs and one Ulster Unionist Party MP voted against. Four Green MPs voted with the government, as did two independents. Three independents voted no. There were no notable cross-party rebellions. The division sits within a cluster of related votes: on 31 March 2025, the Commons voted similarly to reject further Lords amendments on the same bill, including a subsequent version of Amendment 15 (numbered 15B through 15E), suggesting the Lords returned the amendment in revised form after this initial rejection.