High Street Retailers Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business and Trade
Claire Hanna
Main Page: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)Department Debates - View all Claire Hanna's debates with the Department for Business and Trade
(1 day, 15 hours ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr Campbell
I was just coming to the issue of bank branch closures and post office closures, which unfortunately have exacerbated the problem in recent years. We had a debate this morning where some Members mentioned the development of banking hubs, which has helped to a small degree, but they will take some time to roll out. We must remember that more than 2.5 million people are employed in the retail sector across the United Kingdom, so this is not a niche sector that some people are annoyed about but which does not affect a large number of people: this is a huge part of our economy, and it has to be the subject of innovative change and dynamic alignment.
Claire Hanna (Belfast South and Mid Down) (SDLP)
The challenges we are experiencing on Saintfield Road and Sandy Row sound very much like what the hon. Gentleman will be dealing with in Coleraine and Dungiven. Retail provides vibrancy, shared space and a huge rates take. Lisburn Road in south Belfast puts around £6 million into the coffers of Belfast city council. Could we do more from Stormont in calibrating the rates and supporting some of those particularly vulnerable sectors, such as retail and hospitality?
Mr Campbell
The short answer to that is yes. I think some things are being done by devolved Government, but I was alluding to the rating of commercial premises in the run-up to Christmas. We need to reduce car parking charges and rates at that time because many businesses exist throughout the year only because of the turnover that they get between October and Christmas eve.
Richard Walker, the managing director of Iceland—who I understand is a supporter of the Labour Government, so I hope this is not viewed as a criticism—said just this week:
“The Treasury is right to look at levelling the playing field on tax, but it has parked its tractor in the wrong place going after hard-working British farmers. Let’s stop messing around and make online sales tax reform the priority. High streets and farmers are the bedrock of this great country, we need to get behind them.”
I could not agree more. We need a fundamental reassessment of where our high streets will be not in 15 years’ time but in 15 months’ time.