Covid-19: Financial Support for High Street Retailers Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Lord Shipley
Main Page: Lord Shipley (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Shipley's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Covid-19: Financial Support for High Street Retailers
Lord Shipley Excerpts(4 years ago)
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Lord Callanan (Con)
The Government have worked closely with retailers throughout the pandemic and we continue to do so. Retailers were instrumental in the development of the Covid-secure guidance and we have invested a great deal to ensure that their premises are Covid secure. I welcome the British Retail Consortium’s campaign to encourage consumers to “Shop early, start wrapping, enjoy Christmas”.
Lord Shipley (LD) [V]
My Lords, I remind the House of my registered interests. Footfall in high streets is down by well over a third compared to a year ago and despite business rates retail reliefs, the collection of business rates overall this financial year is still forecast to be down by more than £1.5 billion. Do the Government have a plan to meet this deficit without penalising the high street?
Lord Callanan (Con)
As I set out earlier, we will be announcing a review of the business rates system shortly but we have a number of other elements in place, which I outlined in answering the first questioner, to support the high street during this difficult time.