Professor Ben Lockwood invited to brief MPs on business rates and small business

Professor Ben Lockwood invited to brief MPs on business rates and small business

Professor Ben Lockwood has co-authored a briefing for MPs on the impacts of taxation on small businesses, looking particularly at business rates in the UK.

Published by POST, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, the briefing forms part of its Rapid Response series.

This new initiative aims to provide impartial briefing notes on topics of current interest to parliamentarians, written by experts in each topic.

POST’s Social Sciences lead got in touch with Professor Lockwood after several MPs had expressed interest in the impact of tax on small businesses and asked for more information to help them in their parliamentary work.

Professor Lockwood and his frequent co-author Dr Eddy Tam (Kings College London) drew on their published research and carried out some additional work on international comparisons to write the briefing.

Professor Lockwood said: "I am pleased to be able to share some of the findings of my recent research with Martin Simmler and Eddy Tam on the effects of business property tax reliefs on vacancies and rents in England.

"Hopefully, this briefing will help to inform the current debate on the topic, both inside Parliament and more widely.”

• Impacts of taxation on small businesses: Business rates in the UK - POST