First Minister's statement on business rates: FOI release

Information requested

The Scottish Government’s calculations/justifications/statistics for John Swinney making the following claim at First Minister’s Questions on 7 November 2024: Swinney: ‘On business rates, we have of course the most comprehensive small business scheme of business relief, which for the hospitality sector means in our estimations about 50% of the hospitality sector pays absolutely no business rates whatsoever'.

Response

The answer to your question is:

As at 1 June 2024, there were 35,302 hospitality properties in Scotland, of which 20,377 received 100% relief, and therefore paid no rates. This means that 58% of properties in the hospitality sector paid no non-domestic rates.

These figures are estimates derived from the non-domestic valuation roll, and the billing system snapshot, an annual property-level data return made by local councils to the Scottish Government. Local councils are responsible for the administration of the non-domestic rates system.

For hospitality premises, we have included properties with the following core descriptions: bed & breakfast accommodation, cafe, camping site, caravan, caravan site, chalet, club, exclusive use venue, guest house, holiday hut, hostel, hotel, public house, restaurant, self-catering, time share units, and youth hostel. The core description is a description of the type of property, and may not in all cases reflect its use.

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