Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading

This vote was on a "reasoned amendment" moved by the Opposition, which asked the Commons to decline to give the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill a Second Reading. The Bill itself does two main things: it enables permanently lower business-rates multipliers from 2026-27 for retail, hospitality and leisure properties in England with rateable values below £500,000, paid for by a higher multiplier on the most valuable properties (roughly the top 1%, such as large distribution warehouses); and it removes business-rates charitable relief from private schools that are charities, forming part of the Government's wider policy on ending private schools' tax exemptions. The reasoned amendment set out the Opposition's grounds for opposing the Bill at this stage, including concerns about the effect on high-street and hospitality businesses, the removal of rates relief from independent schools alongside the introduction of VAT on fees, and the absence of a full cumulative impact assessment. MPs rejected the amendment by 335 votes to 173, so the Bill was not blocked and proceeded to its Second Reading vote.

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AI-generated from the official voting record.