Richard Holden continues his campaign to get business rates for public loos scrapped as legislation edges closer to becoming law
Richard Holden, Member of Parliament for North West Durham, has spoken in the House of Commons as he continues his campaign to get business rates scrapped for all public loos.
As Co-Chair of the Across-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Local Democracy, Richard has been working to free up funds for local councils by ensuring they do not have to pay business rates to open and maintain public loos. Speaking in the Remaining Stages of the Non-Domestic Rating (Public Lavatories) Bill in the Chamber, Richard said he ‘recognised the great work that Parish Councils are doing’ in places like Rookhope and Wolsingham and stated that the work they do for the communities is one of the reasons he has been such an ‘active campaigner’ on their behalf.
Commenting, Richard Holden, Member of Parliament for North West Durham, said:
“I am delighted that we have seen the remaining stages of this Bill in the House of Commons and I am looking forward to it being debated in the House of Lords in the coming weeks.
“It’s such an important piece of legislation – my parish councils face spending 2% of their annual budgets on business rates and this relief will make a huge difference to their finances.
“Not only will this legislation enable councils to spend money on what the community needs, but it will support our local areas by ensuring that people have access to public loos which, for some people, can be the deciding factor in whether or not they are able to go out.”
