Retail: Portas-plus Package
Debate between Lord Naseby and Baroness Hanham
Lord Naseby
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I declare an interest in that a member of my family works in the retail trade.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham)
My Lords, following the Portas review, we have lifted planning restrictions, doubled small business rate relief to help small shops, and provided communities across the country with a multimillion pound package of support so that they can drive new ideas for their local economy. Beyond the Portas pilots, the Government have invested millions through the High Street Innovation Fund and high street renewal awards. This is alongside more than £115 million of government funding to boost enterprise and initiate business start-ups.
Lord Naseby
Is the Minister aware that the Portas proposals and the extensions to them that she has just announced are enormously welcome to everybody in the retail trade? Nevertheless, two dimensions are hitting Britain’s high streets today. The first is low demand for the past two and a half years, which we all understand, because of the state of the economy and what we inherited in that dimension. The second, however, is business rates. Business rates have now reached the extent that they are the largest single overhead of any retailer, particularly the independent retailers. Against that background, can my noble friend confirm that there will be a commitment from the coalition Government to find a fairer way to tax both the high street and the online traders?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, as the noble Lord will know, the Government have doubled the level of small business rate relief for the past three and a half years, and the higher level of relief will be available throughout the next year. Approximately half a million small businesses in England are estimated to benefit from that. We have also given authorities powers to grant their own business rate discounts, and central government is funding 50% of that. We have also reduced, and are reducing, corporation tax for larger businesses and corporate structures. Although I understand that concern is expressed by some about their business rates, I am not aware of any plans to change the system.
Housing: New Housebuilding
Debate between Lord Naseby and Baroness Hanham
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, I do not accept what the noble Baroness says. Pensioners are not affected by what she is pleased to call the bedroom tax, but which by everybody else’s standards is called the spare room subsidy measure—I thought that would trip lightly off my lips and would help the noble Baroness enormously. Pensioners living in houses will not be affected by these regulations.
Lord Naseby
Does my noble friend agree that the most important thing in relation to this question is to get new housing moving? As I understand it, my noble friend said 170,000 was the figure in the current year. On top of that, we have two incentives from the Budget—the equity loan and the mortgage guarantee—plus the right-to-buy provisions. Does that not all suggest that, whereas the previous Government had the princely total of 113,670 new houses built in their last year, we look like being not far off doubling that in the year to come?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, there is a great emphasis, as my noble friend knows, on providing new housing. The initiatives which have already been taken by the Government for first-time buyers give support for that. The NewBuy Guarantee, which gives access to 95% mortgages for new-build homes, FirstBuy equity loans, the right to buy, and the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending scheme all indicate that this Government are very supportive of housing and recognise that it helps not only people get their homes but helps the construction industry, which is necessary to get growth.
Council Tax: Support Schemes
Debate between Lord Naseby and Baroness Hanham
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, I do not agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, that this is poll tax mark anything. This is a change to the council tax benefit scheme for individuals based on their individual requirements. Local authorities have plenty of support in what they are doing. They are perfectly able to make their own budgets fit to help with the 10% reduction and, as I have already said, if they have brought their council tax scheme within the transitional relief scheme, they also have transitional relief to help with that.
Lord Naseby
My Lords, is it not the flexibility that is being offered to local authorities which is most encouraging? When I was leader of the London Borough of Islington, under the guidance of Harold Wilson, there was nil flexibility to local authorities. We had a diktat from the centre and we had to follow it. At least this coalition Government, recognising that change had to come, have given flexibility for local authorities to decide exactly how they should use the amount of help that is available.
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Naseby for bringing reality into this situation. It is correct that the Government have given not only flexibility but also responsibility to local government for making its own decisions, particularly on council tax and the support that comes with that. Local authorities should be—and are—in a good position to make their own schemes and to deal with their own council tax.
Retail: Business Rates
Debate between Lord Naseby and Baroness Hanham(11 years, 9 months ago)
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Lord Naseby
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I should mention that a member of my family works in the retail trade.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham)
My Lords, our commitment to hold business rate rises to the annual retail prices index cap means that there has been no real-terms increase in business rates since 1990. We have provided and are continuing to provide considerable support on business rates, including temporarily doubling the level of small business rate relief for another year. We have also postponed the revaluation of business premises from 2015 to 2017.
Lord Naseby
My Lords, that is a half encouraging answer from my noble friend, but is she fully aware that over 3 million people are employed in the retail trade, and that, equally importantly, at least 1 million of them are young people aged under 25? The situation on the high street in the past 12 to 14 months has been dire. Against that background, surely the time has come for Her Majesty’s Government to review the business rates, as it affects retailers and, frankly, for just one year to freeze those business rates?
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, the Government are committed to doing all they can to support the high street and other businesses. As the noble Lord made clear, the employment opportunities there are dire at the moment and we want to boost them as much as we can. The high street is facing challenges such as the rise of internet shopping. That is why the Government are offering practical support such as the Portas-plus package, and, as I said, why they have doubled the small business rate relief. We have also given authorities powers to grant their own discounts, which can be used to support local businesses, including shops.
Planning: Naseby Wind Farm
Debate between Lord Naseby and Baroness Hanham(12 years, 10 months ago)
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Lord Naseby
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 the patron of the Naseby Battlefield Project.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham)
My Lords, I assume—I hope correctly—that my noble friend’s Question relates to the proposed wind farm at Kelmarsh, which has been the subject of a recent planning appeal. In that case, the decision has been made by a planning inspector acting on behalf of the Secretary of State and is final unless it is challenged in the High Court. The period in which a High Court challenge can take place has not yet expired, so I cannot comment on this case.
Lord Naseby
My Lords, is it not extraordinary that our precious battlefield sites of Hastings, Bosworth, Culloden and Naseby can be spoilt by wind farms, especially when planning guidance PPS5, introduced less than a year ago by the present Government, specifically mentions the need to protect the setting of a heritage site? How can one inspector ignore PPS5 on the—in my judgment—spurious grounds that wind farms are limited by time as their life is only 25 years? Will the Minister think again and come with me to the viewpoint, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and see the impact that six windmills will have from Colonel Oakey and Prince Rupert’s viewpoints? Surely the Secretary of State needs to recognise that we do not have the funds to challenge in the High Court. However, the Secretary of State has the right to call in at any point, and I ask my noble friend to convey that to him.
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, I hear very clearly what the noble Lord has said. As I said, I cannot comment on the particular matter that he raises. All I would say is that there are two issues here. One is the Planning Inspectorate, which, as noble Lords will know, is independent. The planning inspector makes a decision on behalf of the Secretary of State, but he or she takes that decision in the light of his or her own views. The protection of areas of a special nature is covered by the national planning policy framework and the expectation is that they will be protected.
Allotments
Debate between Lord Naseby and Baroness Hanham
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, I cannot account for who might rip them out, but I doubt that it would be the local authority. I am sure that the association governing allotments will have its own regulations on GM food—and, if necessary, not having made them before, will make them now.
Lord Naseby
Has my noble friend noticed that a number of local authorities have already responded to the need for extra allotments, certainly in central Bedfordshire? Now is the time to plant Aquadulce broad beans; it is an urgent requirement for a good broad bean crop, so will she continue to give encouragement to the local authorities to produce more allotments?
Baroness Hanham
I do not think that there is any need to encourage local authorities to continue to support allotments, as it is part of their statutory obligations to do so. Sometimes people will want to grow beans, but they might want to grow peas and a great many will want to grow tomatoes.
Housing: Market Renewal Partnerships
Debate between Lord Naseby and Baroness Hanham
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, I shall stick to the Question that I was asked, which was about pathfinders. The noble Lord is making trouble for me and I shall not fall into his trap. The proposals for a 17.5 per cent reduction in relation to the pathfinders will be considered, they are out for consultation and I anticipate that there will probably not be much drawing back on the programme as a result.
Lord Naseby
Will my noble friend remind the House of what happened to affordable housing production since the previous Government came into office in 1997? I seem to remember that it began to decline as soon as they took power.
Baroness Hanham
My Lords, I do not have the figures in front of me, but I believe that the previous Government’s efforts on affordable housing throughout their time in office resulted in less housing being built than during the previous 10 years.