Hospitality Businesses

Lord Fox Excerpts

Tuesday 27th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Stockwood (Lab)]

Business rate reform has been on the agenda for the last number of Parliaments and this Government have taken it on. Since I came into government six months ago, I have been proud that our overall objectives have been about stability in our economy, bringing down inflation—it is on target for next year—and making sure that consumers have more money that they can spend in the hospitality industry. Alongside that, the review of overall business rates and the commitment of £4.3 billion mean that over a third of businesses will pay no business rates, over half of ratepayers will see no increases and 23% will see their bills going down. This is funded by targeting those with higher rateable values. Overall, while the main thing is bringing stability to the economy and bringing inflation down to make sure that consumers are spending, reform of revaluation is increasingly important as well.

[Lord Fox (LD)]

My Lords, while, of course, there is a need for holistic reform of business rates—the Liberal Democrats have long proposed a commercial land- owner levy—in the short term, just as the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe, suggested, reducing the retail, hospitality and leisure multiplier by 20p, as opposed to the Government’s 5p, would make a big difference. The whole retail and high street sector has been hit by this—not just pubs or hospitality—so does the Minister recognise that the current proposals, while welcome, are too small and narrow to help our high streets?

[Lord Stockwood (Lab)]

I clearly acknowledge that there are challenges in the economy that are not of the making of the last 18 months alone. Changing consumer behaviours post Covid are a challenge for our overall economy. However, to restate what I said before, we need to get the economy back on track overall and ensure that we have fiscal responsibility. This package alone will cost us £4.3 billion. The additional announcements today on pubs and live music venues take that even further. On average, that relief will be more than £1,600 per pub. We have to do all that while balancing the overall needs of the economy with fiscal responsibility, which the Government set out as major proposals.