Parliamentary questions on business rates and charities
Two written answers to Parliamentary questions on business rates, relevant to charities, were published on 1 February 2017.
Graham Jones MP: What estimate he has made of the number of organisations with charitable status that will be affected by changes in business rates to be introduced from April 2017 in (a) East Lancashire and (b) the UK.
Marcus Jones MP, Minister for Local Government: “The Department is not able to estimate the effect of changes to business rates on organisations with charitable status because it does not hold information about which properties have charitable status. Eligibility for charitable rate relief is determined by local authorities.”
David Anderson MP: “Whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the level of business rates on NHS budgets”.
Marcus Jones MP Minister for Local Government: “Any healthcare provider which is a charity and using their property wholly or mainly for charitable purposes will be entitled to 80% mandatory rate relief. Charities in the healthcare sector make an important contribution to our society and it is right they should benefit from mandatory rate relief. NHS properties, like almost all other buildings occupied by public bodies, have been subject to non-domestic rates since they were introduced. Operational costs related to property are taken into account at spending reviews in determining the overall level of funding for the NHS. A £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme will provide support for the minority of properties which face an increase in rates as a result of the 2017 revaluation, and applies equally to public bodies such as the NHS”.