PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Business Rates: Hospitality Sector - 8 September 2026 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

We love our pubs, so to support them the Prime Minister announced in his first week after taking office a 20% cut in business rates for them, as well as for social clubs and live music venues, from April 2027. That is building on the 15% reduction earlier this year. I and other Ministers have regular discussions with representatives from the pubs and hospitality sector to understand the impact of business rates support.

I know my hon. Friend is a great champion of pubs in her constituency. In fact, she has brought together people for her pub politics events, including at the Willy Wicket, the Beaufort Arms, the Baileys Court Inn—which I have been to—and the White Lion, where people come to talk about issues that matter to them. The support we are providing for pubs will be worth nearly £250 million next year. That will benefit around 32,000 venues, which helps to ensure that they and the jobs they provide will be there for the future.

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the contribution that businesses such as Koh-I-Noor provide to local communities and economies. As he set out, the Government are helping pubs right now, because of the important community assets that they are and the real pressures that they face. I assure him that we will continue to look at what more we can do to support high street businesses more widely to help them to invest and grow.

I very much agree with my hon. Friend about the vital role that pubs and clubs play in local communities on either side of the border. As she rightly points out, business rates decisions in Wales are a decision for the Welsh Government. In England, we have taken action to support community venues and high streets, including the targeted business rates support for pubs. I urge the Welsh Government to consider doing the same.

My hon. Friend is a great champion for pubs and other hospitality venues in his constituency, including Arkell’s brewery, which I know supplies pubs across Swindon and Wiltshire. As he rightly points out, we have provided support for pubs and community venues, which the Prime Minister announced soon after taking office. We will consider all options for what we can do to further support them in the Budget.

The hon. Gentleman has some cheek, given the number of pubs that closed when his party was in government. The Labour party is making sure that the business rates system is set right for the future. Not only have we announced a 20% cut in business rates for pubs as a result of the new Prime Minister taking office, but I was pleased to announce a review of the way in which pubs and hotels are valued for the future, following concerns raised by the sector. That review will report in time for decisions taken on the basis of it to be in place for the next revaluation.

The hon. Gentleman is right to point out the important role that pubs and hospitality play in providing jobs, including jobs for young people. However, I gently say to him that one of the issues with the Lib Dems is that they welcome extra investment in our NHS and public services, but they never want to pay for it. When it comes to hard decisions on the economy, all they offer is soft politics.

As the Prime Minister made clear when he took office, we are giving pubs and community venues real breathing space through the 20% cut to their business rates, but our reform of business rates and our support for the high street does not end there. We are considering every possible opportunity to support retail, hospitality and leisure businesses on the high street, so that high streets in all our communities across the country can thrive.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for talking about the Station House in his constituency; I am sure we all have pubs in our own neighbourhoods that we feel are at the heart of the local communities that we represent.

The 20% business rates cut that we announced was a down payment on further reform. We will continue to look into what we can do to support pubs, hospitality and other high street uses, because we know how much they matter to everyone in this Chamber and all the people whom we represent.

I wonder whether any other Members might say that they have the most pubs in their constituency, or whether the hon. Lady has done her research. [Interruption.] I hear her saying that hers are the best pubs, a claim that even more Members may challenge in the Chamber.

Although the hon. Lady and I have some differences, I think that we share a desire to see a fairer business rates system. I know that the 20% cut for pubs and community venues was widely welcomed, and the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have made it clear that we want to go on looking at what we can do to support our hospitality venues, pubs and other high street uses. This is not a question of taking one policy announcement from July and thinking that that is the end of the story, because we know how important high streets are to communities across the country, and we want to see them thrive.