Extend business rates relief to include every English language teaching school

Many ELT schools are excluded from the business rates relief scheme for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, despite providing educational holidays for 550,000 overseas visitors a year. Schools closed their doors as part of the national effort to keep people safe but now face financial ruin.

The Chancellor announced that all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England - those most impacted by Covid-19 - would benefit from a business rates holiday for the next 12 months. However, due to some unclear guidance from the Ministry of Communities, Housing & Local Government, many English language schools are being deemed as ineligible by local authorities. Without this relief, many schools will be lost along with the jobs that they support and other benefits they bring to the UK.

The Government is keenly aware that COVID-19, and the extraordinary measures that have been taken to prevent its spread, present an unprecedented challenge for businesses, including those sectors that depend heavily on overseas tourism for their income. The Government has supported businesses and jobs through the COVID-19 crisis through an unprecedented support package, including grants for smaller businesses, Government-backed loans and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and English Language Schools are encouraged to make full use of the extensive support currently available. The Spending Review also confirmed that the business rates multiplier would be frozen in 2021-22, saving businesses in England £575 million over the next five years, including ELT schools.

The Government has provided Local Authorities in England with discretionary funding through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme, precisely so that they can support businesses, such as English Language Schools, which are not eligible for the grants for closed or directly affected businesses.

At the Spring Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced a further £5 billion of grant support, including an additional £425 million of discretionary funding, taking the total allocated under the ARG to over £2 billion. It is up to each local authority to determine eligibility for this scheme based on their assessment of local economic need; however, Local Authorities are encouraged to use their ARG allocations to support businesses which have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, but which are ineligible for the other grant schemes. You can find more information on grants here: https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder