Draft Non-Domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) (England) Regulations 2026

Lewis Cocking Excerpts

Wednesday 21st January 2026 General Committees

[Lewis Cocking (Broxbourne) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I welcome the tiny—absolute minuscule—support that the Government are offering in this legislation. We are continually told that most rates will be capped and the changes will not affect most businesses on the high street, but I have not spoken to a single business or pub on my high street that is not seeing a significant increase in its business rates, even with the relief. Let us take the Farmers Boy in Brickendon: its business rates are going to go from £4,000 to £8,000. I do not understand which businesses the Minister or people in the Department are speaking to out there to say that most are not going to see an increase. From the businesses that I speak to, that is simply not true.

We continually hear from the Government, “You guys were in power before the last general election,” but they have had 18 months and they have done nothing. They had 14 years in opposition when they could have come up with a credible plan for government, but they have proved to the people up and down the United Kingdom that they were clearly incapable of doing that. I want to understand from the Minister what the Government will do to support businesses and stop these closure notices—because they are closure notices for many of my constituents in Broxbourne.