§ Mr. GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what the annual cost is of giving mandatory rate relief at 50 per cent. to voluntary sports clubs in England; [147887]
(2) how many voluntary sports clubs in England during 1998–99 received discretionary rate relief; and at what level; [147888]
(3) how many voluntary sports clubs in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland are listed with the relevant agency responsible for the collection of rateable values; [147890]
(4) how many sports clubs in England will benefit from the mandatory rate relief and discretionary relief proposals published in the Green Paper on the Local Government Finance Bill; [147894]
(5) how many voluntary clubs in England have a rateable value of under (a) £3,000 and (b) £8,000. [147895]
§ Ms Beverley Hughes[holding answer 31 January 2001]: The rating lists do not record the use of property as a voluntary sports club as distinct from other sports clubs, so the information is not available in the form requested. The rating lists for England include around 16,000 sports properties, including those used by voluntary clubs as well as professional and commercial sports bodies. The equivalent information requested regarding Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland relates to a devolved matter and as such is for the relevant devolved administration to provide.
Of the 16,000 sports properties in England, around 7,500 have rateable values of under £3,000 and a further 4,000 have rateable values above £3,000 and below £8,000.
Under the proposals in our Green Paper "Modernising Local Government Finance", mandatory rate relief would be available to all small businesses and non-profit making bodies in England. All 11,500 sports properties with rateable values below £8,000 would be eligible for the relief, the amount depending on their size. 7,500 sports properties with rateable values below £3,000 would be eligible for 50 per cent. mandatory relief. 3,000 properties with rateable values between £3,000 and £6,000 would be eligible for mandatory relief between 50 per cent. and 20 per cent. 1,000 properties with rateable values between £6,000 and £8,000 would be eligible for mandatory relief of less than 20 per cent., tapering to no mandatory relief above £8,000. Mandatory relief would be available to all non-profit making sports clubs, as well as commercial or professional clubs that met other tests of being a small business, as proposed in the Green Paper. We are currently considering responses to the Green Paper and will announce the final details of the proposed scheme in a White Paper later this year.
All non-profit making sports clubs are currently eligible for 100 per cent. discretionary relief and would continue to be so under the Green Paper proposals, both to top up any mandatory relief and for those clubs over the size threshold for mandatory relief. Information on the number of voluntary sports clubs eligible for discretionary relief is not held centrally.
257WTo give 50 per cent. mandatory relief to all 16,000 sports properties in England would cost around £35 million in 2000–01. This includes commercial and professional bodies as well as voluntary clubs, as information on voluntary clubs is not available separately. This figure does not take account of any discretionary relief which is already given to non-profit making sports clubs, nor of any transitional or other reliefs which may apply to any of these properties.
English local authorities estimate the total cost of discretionary rate relief to all non-profit making bodies at £24.5 million in 2000–01. This includes relief for non-profit making sports clubs as well as other philanthropic, educational, social, scientific, literary or fine arts bodies, excluding those which are charities. Information on how much of this was for voluntary sports clubs and the level of relief given to each club is not recorded centrally. Information is not readily available for 1998–99.
§ Mr. GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish the results of the Regulatory Impact Assessment on the administrative burden on voluntary sports clubs through the Green Paper on Local Government Finance. [147893]
§ Ms Beverley Hughes[holding answer 31 January 2001]: We will publish the Regulatory Impact Assessment of the proposals for rate relief for small businesses and other non-profit making bodies including sports clubs in due course. If the relief were to apply to all non-profit making bodies within certain rateable value thresholds, as we currently propose, we would expect the additional burden on clubs in making an application to be minimal, and no more than is currently involved in apply for discretionary rate relief.