Written question asked by Baroness Rebuck (Labour) on Wednesday, 1 February 2017, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 15 February 2017. It was answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative) on Thursday, 9 February 2017 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Bookshops: Non-domestic Rates

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk of independent bookshops closing as a result of an increase in the rateable value of their property following re-assessment by the Valuation Office Agency.

Answer: Business rates are based on valuations from the Valuation Office Agency and we do not intervene in their independent assessments. Nearly three quarters of businesses will see no change or a fall in their bills from 1 April thanks to the business rates revaluation with 600,000 businesses set to pay no business rates at all. We have put in place a £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme for England to support ratepayers at the 2017 revaluation.

Secondary information