The bill would provide for the next business rates revaluation to take effect from 1 April 2023. This briefing considers: the background to the bill, including recent government proposals to change the frequency of revaluation; what the bill would do; and what happened to it during its passage through the House of Commons.
Documents to download
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Economic Assessments for the European Union (294 KB, PDF)
The European Union requires member states to submit information on their medium-term economic and fiscal position, known as their convergence programme. This requirement applies to the UK until the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020. The exercise is based on rules in the EU’s stability and growth pact, which aims to ensure that member states maintain sound public finances.
Both Houses of Parliament must approve the documents on which the UK’s assessment is based. The motion states that these documents are the spring 2020 budget and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) Economic and Fiscal Outlook and Fiscal Sustainability Report. HM Treasury has also published a separate convergence programme based on these documents.
The budget and OBR publications do not fully reflect the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19). The budget, published on 11 March, contained some measures in response to the virus, but these have since been significantly expanded. The Economic and Fiscal Outlook was finalised in February 2020, before the effects of the virus, or the Government’s response to it, were known. The Fiscal Sustainability Report was published in 2018.
On 5 May 2020, Lord True (Conservative) is due to move that “the virtual proceedings do consider Her Majesty’s Government’s assessment of the medium-term economic and fiscal position as set out in the latest budget document and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s most recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook and Fiscal Sustainability Report, which forms the basis of the United Kingdom’s convergence programme”.
Related Links
Documents to download
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Economic Assessments for the European Union (294 KB, PDF)
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The House of Lords made several changes to its procedures during the Covid-19 pandemic. This included the use of virtual sittings and sittings which featured both physical and remote participation. This article provides a chronology of these developments.
