Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates 2026-04-28
2026-04-28
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Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
What assessment has been made of the potential im [2D [K impact of changes to business rates announced in the autumn Budget 2025 on [K the retail, hospitality and leisure sector.
The Government have introduced a support package wo [2D [K worth £4.3 billion to protect rate payers across the country against the im [2D [K impact of independently set new property values, whereby properties have be [2D [K been valued for the first time since the pandemic. We have also introduced [K permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure [K properties worth nearly £1 billion a year, and this will benefit more than [K 750,000 high street businesses.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
The MP met with Chris, the owner of Chapter [7D [K Chapters Hair in Bromsgrove, who stated that current trading conditions are [3D [K are the most difficult in 25 years due to government decisions. This highli [6D [K highlights the impact on local business owners' perceptions.
I recently met Chris, the owner of Chapters Hair [K in Bromsgrove, who told me that current conditions are the most difficult h [1D [K he has faced in 25 years of trading, which he attributes directly to the de [2D [K decisions taken by the Chancellor. Why is it that the Chancellor of the Exc [3D [K Exchequer and the Government across the board are riding roughshod over wha [3D [K what business owners think—the people who know best how to run their busine [6D [K businesses—and when will the Government get off their backs and get on thei [4D [K their side?
Under the previous Government, the business rates m [1D [K multiplier—the tax rate—paid by medium-sized businesses and the very larges [6D [K largest businesses was exactly the same. We have implemented significant re [2D [K reforms to the way businesses rates work so that the system supports the hi [2D [K high street, and the tax rate paid by small high street businesses will now [3D [K now be 33% lower than the rate paid by the largest properties, such as onli [4D [K online giants. Of course, the revaluation since the pandemic has had an eff [3D [K effect, and that is why we have stepped in to provide support.
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Assessment & feedback
The specific challenges faced by Chapters Hair an [2D [K and other small businesses are not directly addressed; only general reforms [7D [K reforms to business rates are mentioned.
Business Rates Reforms
Online Giants Compar [6D [K Comparison
Response accuracy
Q3
Partial Answer
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?
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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Assessment & feedback
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