ELT added to organisations eligible for business rates relief by local government

Last updated: 10:00 on Tuesday 7 April 2020

English UK has won a partial victory in its fight to get the Covid-19 business rates relief for the hospitality and tourism sector extended to ELT centres.

After lobbying by English UK with the Tourism Alliance, the Local Government Association has included ELT schools in the list of properties which are eligible for inclusion.

We are now creating template letters for members to send to their local authority requesting the relief, together with a letter from English UK reiterating the request.

Huan Japes, membership director of English UK, said: "We are delighted that English Language Schools have been included by the LGA in the list of properties considered to fall within the scope of the relief, and we are very grateful to the Tourism Alliance for helping us to achieve this result.

"Now, we recommend that members write to their local authorities as soon as possible using our template, and include the letter from English UK outlining the LGA's position and asking for due consideration."

English UK has been lobbying for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to formally include ELT centres in the list of organisations eligible for the relief, so that it is not at the discretion of local authorities. We will continue to lobby for central government to include English language schools automatically in the rates relief as this will remove any element of Local Authority discretion.