Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure: Business Rates

Tuesday 28 April 2026 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Government have introduced a support package worth 4.3 billion to protect rate payers against the impact of independently set new property values.
  • Under the previous Government, the business rates multiplier for medium-sized businesses and the largest businesses was the same; reforms have been implemented to support the high street.
  • UKHospitality reported that one in seven of its hotels, pubs, and restaurants will close as a direct result of the Chancellor's policies.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Bradley Thomas Con Bromsgrove
Economy Business & Trade

Question

What assessment has been made of the potential impact of changes to business rates announced in the autumn Budget 2025 on the retail, hospitality and leisure sector.

Answer from Dan Tomlinson

The Government have introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion to protect rate payers across the country against the impact of independently set new property values, whereby properties have been valued for the first time since the pandemic. We have also introduced permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties worth nearly £1 billion a year, and this will benefit more than 750,000 high street businesses.

Answered
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Q2 Bradley Thomas Con Bromsgrove
Economy Taxation Business & Trade
Context

The MP met with Chris, the owner of Chapters Hair in Bromsgrove, who stated that current trading conditions are the most difficult in 25 years due to government decisions. This highlights the impact on local business owners' perceptions.

Question

I recently met Chris, the owner of Chapters Hair in Bromsgrove, who told me that current conditions are the most difficult he has faced in 25 years of trading, which he attributes directly to the decisions taken by the Chancellor. Why is it that the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Government across the board are riding roughshod over what business owners think—the people who know best how to run their businesses—and when will the Government get off their backs and get on their side?

Answer from Dan Tomlinson

Under the previous Government, the business rates multiplier—the tax rate—paid by medium-sized businesses and the very largest businesses was exactly the same. We have implemented significant reforms to the way businesses rates work so that the system supports the high street, and the tax rate paid by small high street businesses will now be 33% lower than the rate paid by the largest properties, such as online giants. Of course, the revaluation since the pandemic has had an effect, and that is why we have stepped in to provide support.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific challenges faced by Chapters Hair and other small businesses are not directly addressed; only general reforms to business rates are mentioned.

How: Business Rates Reforms, Online Giants Comparison

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Q3 Richard Fuller Con North Bedfordshire
Economy Business & Trade

Question

This month, a comprehensive survey by UKHospitality showed that one in seven of our hotels, pubs and restaurants will close as a direct result of the Chancellor’s policies. Many of those businesses represent the hopes and dreams, hard work and savings of the people who set them up. Therefore, as I am permitted, rather than having the Minister come to the Dispatch Box, may I ask the Chancellor to come to the Dispatch Box to answer this? If it was not me standing here but one of those people who had founded a business and is now going through the gut-wrenching process of closing it because of her policies, what would she say to them?

Answer from Dan Tomlinson

Of course, the Government want to do all we can to support businesses up and down the country—small, medium and large. That is why we are working hard to put the economic stagnation we had over the last 14 years behind us. We are seeing economic growth rising—growing by 0.5% in February; we saw unemployment falling; and we were seeing Government borrowing falling as well. Those are the long-term changes we need to lay the foundations so that businesses can grow, invest and hire more people. It is disappointing that the Conservatives seem to have forgotten what we need to provide stability in our economy.

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