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| Theresa May promises help for firms hardest hit by business rates change | Theresa May promises help for firms hardest hit by business rates change |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Theresa May has asked senior ministers to assist companies most adversely affected by the imminent change in business rates, she has told prime minister’s questions, following concern about the process among Conservative MPs. | Theresa May has asked senior ministers to assist companies most adversely affected by the imminent change in business rates, she has told prime minister’s questions, following concern about the process among Conservative MPs. |
| May told the Commons she had asked the chancellor, Philip Hammond, and the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, to make sure a relief fund was targeted at those businesses most in need. | May told the Commons she had asked the chancellor, Philip Hammond, and the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, to make sure a relief fund was targeted at those businesses most in need. |
| While Downing Street later stressed that this did not mean any extra money on top of a previously announced £3.6bn transitional fund, the prime minister’s comments indicate the seriousness with which she is treating worries about the revaluation. | |
| The overhaul of the business rates system will see them based on the latest rental value of properties, meaning the biggest rises will happen in places such as London and other areas in the south-east, where rents have risen sharply in recent years. | The overhaul of the business rates system will see them based on the latest rental value of properties, meaning the biggest rises will happen in places such as London and other areas in the south-east, where rents have risen sharply in recent years. |
| Also on Wednesday, Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the Treasury committee, wrote to Hammond seeking clarification on some parts of the revaluation, particularly whether out-of-town businesses were benefitting at the expense of smaller, urban firms. | |
| The letter asks Hammond to give figures on the proportion of small, medium and large businesses facing a rise or fall in business rates. | |
| The delay since rates were last reassessed “was bound to store up trouble”, Tyrie said. “For businesses whose properties have increased disproportionately in value over the last seven years, the increases may be painful.” | |
| Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, asked May at prime minister’s questions whether she would review the rates upheaval, saying some small businesses in her constituency would see increases of up to 400%. | Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, asked May at prime minister’s questions whether she would review the rates upheaval, saying some small businesses in her constituency would see increases of up to 400%. |
| May defended the overall aim of the process, saying rental values of properties did move over time. “It’s right that rates change to recognise that,” she said. “That’s the principle of fairness that underpins the business rates system.” | May defended the overall aim of the process, saying rental values of properties did move over time. “It’s right that rates change to recognise that,” she said. “That’s the principle of fairness that underpins the business rates system.” |
| May added: “We also, though, want to support businesses and recognise that for some, business rates will go up when these revaluations take place. That is why we have put significant funding in place for transitional relief. | |
| “But I recognise that there has been particular concern that there will be some small businesses that are particularly adversely affected by the result of this revaluation.” | “But I recognise that there has been particular concern that there will be some small businesses that are particularly adversely affected by the result of this revaluation.” |
| May added: “That’s why I’ve asked the chancellor and communities secretary to make sure there is appropriate relief in those hardest cases.” | |
| Speaking afterwards, May’s spokesman said she had not been promising any extra money. In talking to Hammond and Javid the prime minister was seeking “to make sure that once we go forward during this process that this transitional fund goes to the areas where it is most in need”, he said. | |
| He added: “As we have made very clear already, we are mindful of the fact that some companies are going to see their rates go up. That is why we are introducing this £3.6bn transitional fund to ease that transition for those firms that are affected. | |
| “I think the prime minister is just making sure that assistance is going to the right areas.” | |
| The earlier exchanges between May and Jeremy Corbyn during prime minister’s questions were dominated by the NHS and social care, with the Labour leader repeatedly accusing May of presiding over a crisis. | The earlier exchanges between May and Jeremy Corbyn during prime minister’s questions were dominated by the NHS and social care, with the Labour leader repeatedly accusing May of presiding over a crisis. |
| In response, May said the government was spending more on both, and claimed Corbyn could not properly manage the economy so as to fund the NHS. | In response, May said the government was spending more on both, and claimed Corbyn could not properly manage the economy so as to fund the NHS. |
| In his final question, Corbyn said May’s government “has put the NHS and social care in a state of emergency”. | In his final question, Corbyn said May’s government “has put the NHS and social care in a state of emergency”. |
| Raising his voice to a near-shout, he said: “The legacy of her government will be blighting our NHS for decades – fewer hospitals, fewer A&E departments, fewer nurses and fewer people getting the care they need. We need a government that puts the NHS first, and will invest in our NHS.” | Raising his voice to a near-shout, he said: “The legacy of her government will be blighting our NHS for decades – fewer hospitals, fewer A&E departments, fewer nurses and fewer people getting the care they need. We need a government that puts the NHS first, and will invest in our NHS.” |
| May responded that she would “take no lessons on the NHS” from the party that was in power when the scandal at the Mid Staffordshire NHS trust took place. | May responded that she would “take no lessons on the NHS” from the party that was in power when the scandal at the Mid Staffordshire NHS trust took place. |
| “They say we should learn lessons,” May said. “I’ll tell you who should learn lessons. It’s the Labour party who still fail to recognise, if you’re going to fund the NHS – and we are putting more money in – you need a strong economy. | “They say we should learn lessons,” May said. “I’ll tell you who should learn lessons. It’s the Labour party who still fail to recognise, if you’re going to fund the NHS – and we are putting more money in – you need a strong economy. |
| “But Labour have a different sort of phrase now for their approach to these things. Remember Labour used to talk about boom and bust? Now it’s no longer boom and bust, it’s borrow and bankrupt.” | “But Labour have a different sort of phrase now for their approach to these things. Remember Labour used to talk about boom and bust? Now it’s no longer boom and bust, it’s borrow and bankrupt.” |