Business Rates Hardship Fund

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Wednesday 19th July 2017 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Naseby]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that those businesses eligible for support from the business rates hardship fund receive that support without delay.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I declare an interest, as a member of my family works in the retail trade.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government and Northern Ireland Office (Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government confirmed local authority allocations for the discretionary relief scheme in April 2017. This enabled councils to press on with implementing their local schemes. We have been clear that we expect authorities to provide this support to hard-pressed businesses without delay. Ministers have written to council leaders clearly setting out this expectation. Some authorities have already issued reduced bills, and we continue to urge other councils to follow suit as quickly as possible.

[Lord Naseby]

My Lords, is it not a fact that very few councils have implemented this? Here we are, a third of the way through the year, and that is having a huge effect on cash flow. In certain areas, the bailiffs are going in. Against that background, what further action will Her Majesty’s Government take to make sure that this all happens in the next month? Surely, that is not asking too much. After all, if we believe that the high street is vital to our economy, perhaps we should look further and reflect that it is no good for this country to have the highest business rates in Europe. If we are going to have successful small businesses and a successful high street, surely we have to go down the league table in that regard.

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, my noble friend is absolutely right about the importance of the high street. The Chancellor announced £435 million-worth of relief in the Budget and, as I have indicated, allocations have been made to local councils. We are certainly looking to them to implement this; some have set a good example—such as Leeds and Haringey—and we are looking to others to do the same. We will certainly consider what further action we need to take if they do not comply with our instructions.