Every parliamentary written question tabled by David Simmonds this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 21–40 of 85 · Treasury
With reference to her Department's correspondence entitled 1/2026: Pubs and live music venues relief 2026 to 2027, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) pub and (b) live music hereditaments that will benefit.
The number of pubs and live music venues that will benefit from this relief will be determined, ultimately, by the relief decisions made by councils in line with the guidance published.
Whether the new pub relief will apply to (a) business rate supplements levied by the Mayor of London and (b) business improvement district levies on business rates.
Decisions around the determination and application of local Business Rates Supplement are for relevant local authority, must ensure they follow the requirements set out in the Business Rates Supplement Act 2009 and the policies set out in their final prospectus.
How many and what proportion of pubs with Valuation Office Agency Special Category (i) Code 226 and (ii) Code 227, will see their business rates bills (a) increase, (b) fall or (c) remain the same, in 2026-27 relative to 2025-26.
I refer the hon. Members to the answer given to UIN 101363.
Pursuant to the Answer of 9 December 2025 to Question 95894 on Housing: council tax, whether the Valuation Office Agency holds council tax dwelling data by band based on those geographies.
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) publishes Council Tax statistics on GOV.UK. The Council Tax stock of properties publication provides the number of properties by Council Tax band, administrative area and Westminster Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales.
Whether the Valuation Office Agency has made an estimate of the number of dwellings in each local authority that could be liable for the council tax surcharge.
The Valuation Office Agency estimates fewer than 1% of properties in England are expected to be liable for the High Value Council Tax surcharge.
Pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2025 to Question 95397 on Business Rates, if he will publish the change in rateable values by special category code by local authority.
The Valuation Office Agency currently have no plans to publish this information.
Pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2025, to Question 95885, on Council tax, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the council tax surcharge on other tax receipts.
As set out in response to Question 95885 on 9th December 2025, the forecast impact on other tax receipts is set out in the published costings document here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf
What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the size of the Valuation Office Agency’s backlog in relation to (a) business rates and (b) council tax appeals.
The VOA works closely with government partners to ensure it is adequately resourced and to develop delivery plans which align with planned consultation and legislative timelines.
What the gross cost of the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief was in 2025-26.
The information requested is available at this link.
Pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2025 to Question 97277 on Business Rates: Tax Allowances, whether the Valuation Office Agency’s online calculator on the gov.uk website is correctly applying 2025-26 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure rate relief when estimating the base liability and the subsequent value of 2026-27 transitional relief.
The business rates estimator tool was, in accordance with standard practice, taken down on Friday 16 January ahead of local authorities issuing business rates bills in the coming weeks.
What information the Valuation Office Agency. holds on the number of (a) religious retreats, (b) caravan parks for recreational use and (c) recreational campsites there are in each local authority.
The Valuation Office Agency publishes an annual stock of properties in the Rating List on GOV.UK. The most recent release details the stock and value of properties on the 2023 rating lists as at 31 March 2025. Information relating to your request can be found here.
What her Department’s latest forecasts are for the value of annual CPI inflation in (a) September 2026 and (b) September 2027.
HM Treasury does not produce forecasts for the UK economy. Forecasting the economy is the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which published its latest forecast on 26 November 2025.In their most recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the OBR forecast CPI inflation to be 2.3% in Q3 2026 and 2.0% in Q3 2027.
Whether Energy Performance Certificate data will be used by the Valuation Office Agency to assist the council tax surcharge valuations.
The Valuation Office Agency is developing its specific approach to the High Value Council Tax Surcharge work and will set out more details in due course, alongside the government's consultation.
Pursuant to the answer of 22 December 2025, to Question 99863, on Business Rates, for what reason do some hereditaments not have an Unique Address Reference Number listed in their entry in the Valuation Office Agency's published VOA rating list downloads dataset.
The current dataset for the 2023 Rating List includes a “proxy record” for each hereditament that has been deleted from the 2023 Rating List. They are included in the data to provide an effective date of deletion from the 2023 Rating List. As these are hereditaments which have been deleted from the 2023 Rating List they would not be present in the subsequent 2026 Draft Rating List.
What assessment she has made of the effect of the council tax surcharge on house prices of higher valued homes, and the associated effect on the wider housing market.
House prices are affected by lots of different factors – this is forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility in its recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook here: https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/OBR_Economic_and_fiscal_outlook_November_2025.pdf
Whether leasehold properties are valued for council tax based on their actual sale price or a notional assumed lease length.
The VOA values all properties for Council Tax in line with legislation.
Pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2025 to Question 95402 on Council Tax: Tax Rates and Bands, if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) analysis and (b) evidence base used to calculate the 2.5% impact on affected properties and the greater effects.
A breakdown of the costing methodology used on the policy costing for the High Value Council Tax Surcharge is available on page 51 of the Autumn Budget 2025 policy costings document: Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf
What estimate she has made of the administrative cost of implementing the council tax surcharge, including the estimated cost of the valuations for the dwellings.
Local authorities will collect this revenue on behalf of central Government. The Government will work closely with local government over the next two years to ensure the administration of the tax is not an excessive burden for local government. The Government will fully fund the administration costs of this tax. The Valuation Office will be conducting a targeted revaluation to identify homes worth over £2 million. This will also be fully funded by the Government. The HVCTS will raise £430m by 2029-30.
Further to the the publication entitled Areas of research interest, updated 27 November 2025, when will (a) her Department, (b) HMRC and (c) the Valuation Office Agency publish their 2025 areas of research interests.
The Areas of Research Interest (ARI) documents you refer to, published in November 2024, set out a range of long-term and enduring research questions across the remit of HMT, HMRC and the Valuation Office Agency. The Government’s objectives, including relentlessly pursuing growth and cutting the cost of living, have not changed so it does not plan to update the documents regularly. The ARIs sit alongside other important analytical publications and documents, including the departments’ evaluation strategy and their research and statistics. This is just one part of the Government’s broader work engaging with external research partners.
With reference to the OBR, Economic and fiscal outlook, of November 2025, CP1438m paragraph 4.38, what assessment has been made by (a) her Department and (b) the Valuation Office Agency, of the cause and drivers of the 10.2 per cent increase in business rate receipts in 2026-27.
The Government does not hold data on the breakdown of business rates revenue. The total change in business rates revenue is set out in the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook.