Written questions by Hollinrake.

What estimate she has made of the additional revenue to be raised from properties with rateable value of £500,000 or above in order to be able to set lower multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure properties below that threshold.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above. The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025. The Non-Domestic Ratings Bill due for Committee Stage sets out the parameters within which the government proposes the multipliers would be set by Treasury regulations.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the debate on the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill of 25 November 2024, Official Report, column 594, whether the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure multipliers from 2026 will (a) be in addition to and (b) replace the small business rate relief multipliers.

To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties, including those on the high-street, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties from 2026-27 - those with Rateable Values of £500,000 and above.The government has no plans to abolish small business rates relief which is a permanent relief set down in legislation. In our paper 'Transforming Business Rates' we have committed to exploring whether and how small business rates relief can be improved to better support business investment and expansion.

What is the (a) mean and (b) median Rateable Value of hereditaments over £500,000.

The VOA regularly publishes official Non-Domestic Rating statistics on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/valuation-office-agency-non-domestic-rating-statistics. The number of properties over £500,000 in rateable value, broken down by property sector is published in table 2.2 here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66695d2cf5e751f1b786db07/ndr_stock_of_properties_2024.xlsx The highest rateable value band where the VOA publishes a breakdown of properties by special category code, mean and median is £51k. The VOA does not currently publish a further breakdown of data for properties with a rateable value over £500k but plans to do so in an ad hoc publication. The publication date is expected to be announced within the next two weeks, and information published by 31 March 2025.

If she will publish an impact assessment for the proposed reduction in business rate relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above. The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025, taking account of the outcomes of the 2026 revaluation as well as the broader economic and fiscal context. Tax policy and legislation is not subject to the Better Regulation Framework Guidance which requires an Impact Assessment to accompany policy decisions. Nevertheless, when the new multipliers are set at Budget 2025, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.

What estimate she has made of the level of the (a) lower multiplier for retail, hospitality and leisure hereditaments from April 2026 and (b) higher multiplier for hereditaments above £500,000 Rateable Value; and whether she has a target for the average (i) decrease and (ii) increase in business rates as a (A) proportion and (B) number.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above. The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025. The Non-Domestic Ratings Bill due for Committee Stage sets out the parameters within which the government proposes the multipliers would be set by Treasury regulations.

If she will publish an impact assessment for the proposed application of a higher multiplier to properties with a rateable value of £500,000 or above.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above. The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025, taking account of the outcomes of the 2026 revaluation as well as the broader economic and fiscal context. Tax policy and legislation is not subject to the Better Regulation Framework Guidance which requires an Impact Assessment to accompany policy decisions. Nevertheless, when the new multipliers are set at Budget 2025, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the decision to apply a higher multiplier to all properties with a rateable value of £500,000 or above on (a) large supermarkets and (b) department stores.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced its intention to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above. The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025, taking account of the outcomes of the 2026 revaluation as well as the broader economic and fiscal context.

With reference to paragraph 3.80 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October, what proportion of the £120 million is new funding.

The £120m of funding announced in the Budget for 2025/26 is in addition to the existing funding of £120m in 2024/25, and will continue to support the purchase of new electric vans as well as the manufacture of wheelchair accessible electric vehicles (EVs).

Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 58 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of local government restructuring on social care (a) delivery and (b) economies of scale.

The upcoming English Devolution White Paper will set out more detail on the government’s devolution plans, including on working with councils to move to simpler structures that make sense for their local areas, with efficiency savings from council reorganisation helping to meet the needs of local people.

If she will publish a list of the Rateable Value of each pub in England by (a) address, (b) local authority and (c) Rateable Value.

The VOA makes the Non-Domestic Rating (NDR) lists publicly available. This is to allow a person “access to information to enable them to establish the state of the list” and is set out under paragraph 8(1) of schedule 9 of the Local Government Finance Act (LGFA) 1988. To fulfil this statutory function the VOA publishes the Rating Lists at: www.gov.uk/find-business-rates The address, local authority and rateable value of each property is included within these lists. The advanced search function allows users to select properties by special category code and to filter by pubs using codes 226 and 227.

What guidance she has issued on whether (a) supermarkets, (b) hotels and (c) department stores with a rateable value over £500,000 will be liable to pay the new business rates rateable value multiplier surcharge from 2026-27.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced its intention to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above. The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025, taking account of the outcomes of the 2026 revaluation as well as the broader economic and fiscal context.

What estimate she has made of the number of properties that the proposed new multiplier above £500,000 Rateable Value will apply to by (a) special categories and (b) sector.

The VOA regularly publishes official Non-Domestic Rating statistics on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/valuation-office-agency-non-domestic-rating-statistics. The number of properties over £500,000 in rateable value, broken down by property sector is published in table 2.2 here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66695d2cf5e751f1b786db07/ndr_stock_of_properties_2024.xlsx The highest rateable value band where the VOA publishes a breakdown of properties by special category code, mean and median is £51k. The VOA does not currently publish a further breakdown of data for properties with a rateable value over £500k but plans to do so in an ad hoc publication. The publication date is expected to be announced within the next two weeks, and information published by 31 March 2025.

What assessment has the Valuation Office Agency made of the potential impact of the 2026 business rates revaluation on businesses, broken down by (a) special category code and (b) each English region.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has a statutory duty to compile and maintain accurate rating lists. The Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023 set the date of completion for the next revaluation as 1 April 2026. Valuation activity is now underway. In line with section 41 of The Local Government Finance Act 1988, the VOA will publish the valuation list in draft by 31 December 2025. Following the publication of the draft list, the VOA will also publish official statistics on changes to rateable value, including by special category code and billing authority.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department issues on whether a planning application previously been rejected by a planning authority can be resubmitted without substantive changes.

Planning Practice Guidance found on gov.uk here, sets out the position on this matter. The guidance makes clear that section 70A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allows local planning authorities to decline planning applications for recently refused proposals and sets out the circumstances in which this applies.

Communities and Local Government, what the material considerations were that satisfied the call-in criteria for the proposed Chinese Embassy near the Tower of London.

Call-in decisions are inherently about process and not the merits of any given planning application.I refer the hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 26 March 2019 (HCWS1452) which outlines the broad criteria for calling-in planning applications, but makes clear it is not restrictive in its application.

Communities and Local Government, which provisions of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2024 have (a) been and (b) are due to be commenced.

Following Royal Assent of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA) in October 2023, a small number of provisions were commenced by the previous government, for example relating to pavement licensing, planning enforcement and certain reforms to the compulsory purchase process.Building on these measures, in September last year, a power enabling local authorities to bring forward affordable housing, national health or educational facilities through the use of compulsory purchase without paying ‘hope value’ compensation was fully commenced.We have also made clear that we intend to commence powers contained in the LURA to improve the transparency of build out rates for residential development, including the introduction of commencement notices and progress reports. This was announced alongside the government’s response to the National Planning Policy Framework consultation, published on 12 December.We do not intend to commence provisions from the LURA that would cut across our commitments to streamline the planning process and unlock development, such as the Infrastructure Levy.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans not to commence provisions of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023.

Following Royal Assent of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA) in October 2023, a small number of provisions were commenced by the previous government, for example relating to pavement licensing, planning enforcement and certain reforms to the compulsory purchase process.Building on these measures, in September last year, a power enabling local authorities to bring forward affordable housing, national health or educational facilities through the use of compulsory purchase without paying ‘hope value’ compensation was fully commenced.We have also made clear that we intend to commence powers contained in the LURA to improve the transparency of build out rates for residential development, including the introduction of commencement notices and progress reports. This was announced alongside the government’s response to the National Planning Policy Framework consultation, published on 12 December.We do not intend to commence provisions from the LURA that would cut across our commitments to streamline the planning process and unlock development, such as the Infrastructure Levy.

Communities and Local Government, what guidance her Department provides on the processes to be followed by other Government departments making representations on the potential call-in or recovery of a planning application or appeal.

There is no separate guidance provided to other government departments regarding making representations on the potential call-in or recovery of a planning application or appeal. Processes are laid out in the House of Commons Library research briefing ‘Call-in of planning applications (England)’ (2024). Advice on these matters may also be requested from this department’s Planning Casework Unit.

What the methodological basis was for setting the proposed business rate multiplier surcharge for hereditaments above £500,000 rateable value at a level of up to 10 pence in the pound.

To deliver our manifesto pledge, from 2026-27, the Government intends to protect the high street by introducing permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with Rateable Values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL properties benefit from much-needed certainty and support. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so the Government intends to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties on 2026-27 - those with Rateable Values of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but capture the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants. The rates for any new multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 and implemented in 2026-27. The higher tax rate, when introduced, will not be set higher than 10p above the non-domestic rating multiplier. The Government is clear that this is the maximum, and it does not represent the changes that we intend to implement. It is a guardrail that offer sensible limits with proportionate flexibility, ensuring the Government can respond to future revaluations as well as the changing economic and fiscal context.

Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 6385 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Flags, if she will publish guidance on whether the flying of a flag which does not have deemed consent and is flown from the ground but visible from a public highway requires planning permission.

The relevant government guidance, Flying flags: a plain English guide, sets out the planning rules for the display of flags.