To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will issue guidance to local authorities on making available Government-backed business rates relief to showground and funfair businesses; and if he will make a statement.
Answered on
16 November 2020
In response to COVID-19 the Government has provided a 100 per cent business rates holiday for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties in England, for 2020-21, worth over £10 billion.
My Department published guidance to help local authorities implement the scheme. The guidance states that eligible properties are those wholly or mainly used as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues; those used by visiting members of the public for assembly and leisure; or hotels, guest and boarding premises and self-catering accommodation. It is for local authorities to decide, having regard to the guidance, whether showground and funfair properties fall within these categories.