Review of business rate relief for registered childcare properties: 2024

This report provides a review of evidence, including:

• local authority non-domestic rate (NDR) billing data
• Valuation Office Agency data
• data collected through Care Inspectorate Wales
• data collected through a Welsh Government survey of childcare providers on their income and expenditure
• findings from Welsh Government’s Call for Evidence via sector stakeholders 

We can conclude that the sector is not in a strong economic position. Any potential increases in costs, including from an increase in liability for NDR, could have the following impacts:

• providers raising their fees, seeing increased burden on parents and potentially a decline in hours used, particularly for parents on low incomes
• relative declines in pay in the sector, possibly resulting in declining recruitment and retention
• acceleration of the decline in the number of approved registered services