Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts

Tuesday 20th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I understand and agree with a lot of what the noble Baroness says. It is important that we are able to create certainty for those businesses, but we did spend £4.3 billion at the time of the Budget in support of exactly the businesses she described. We are implementing transitional relief to cap the amount that bills increase for businesses that would otherwise have seen big increases. For any business whose values increase so that they are no longer eligible for small business rates relief, we are capping that increase, and we have expanded the supporting small businesses scheme. As I say, that is at a total cost of £4.3 billion, so we absolutely recognise the issues facing those businesses. The revaluation means that pubs and others will struggle in relation to the business rates applicable to them, which is exactly why we are working with the sector to ensure that it gets the support it needs.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, the retail and hospitality industries are often where youngsters who find it difficult to get into the workplace get their first foothold. Understandably, there have to be increases in the overheads that these organisations are paying, but can the Minister look at ways in which these organisations might be helped to bring some of those people who really need their first job into the employment market?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right about the important role that those businesses play in giving young people their first jobs, and I agree with her. We are taking significant measures to help the UK hospitality sector, which employs more than 2 million people and is vital to high streets across the UK. Based on recommendations from the licensing taskforce, we published a new National Licensing Policy Framework for the hospitality sector at the time of the Budget. We are exploring planning reforms to help pubs and hospitality to expand, and the hospitality support fund has helped pubs in rural areas to diversify, ensuring that they can continue in their role as vital community hubs.