§ Mr. CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the number of rural pubs that will receive 50 per cent. mandatory rate relief under the new Non-domestic Rating (Public Houses and Petrol Filling Stations) Order 2001. [158905]
§ Ms Beverley HughesThese figures are not held centrally. Under the Order, 50 per cent. rate relief is available to the sole pub with a rateable value of less than £9,000 in a designated rural settlement with a population of fewer than 3,000. We estimate that there are about 8,000 public houses with a rateable value of less than £9,000 situated in local authorities whose areas are predominantly rural. However, this figure includes public houses that are located in market towns and in settlements with more than one pub, neither of which would qualify for relief under the Order.