Retail Sector: High Street

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Thursday 17th September 2015 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Naseby]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new proposals they have to support independent high street retailers, particularly in the light of the increasing cost of business rates.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, in asking my Question, I declare an interest in that a member of my family works in the retail trade.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

My Lords, our high streets are changing and the Government are committed to helping them adapt—for example, by tackling planning and parking restrictions. We have also introduced a £1.4 billion package of support for 2015-16 business rate bills. Approximately half of that will go to the retail sector.

[Lord Naseby]

My Lords, my noble friend’s Answer is indeed helpful but does not really reflect the crisis facing our town centres, with 10% of properties empty, declining footfall and business leaching away to online and retail parks. Against that background, in addition to what Her Majesty’s Government are doing, I wish to put two thoughts in my noble friend’s mind. First, encourage all local authorities to make parking easier and cheaper—for instance, my former constituency of Northampton has free parking all weekend and two hours free every single day. Secondly, look closely at what Northampton’s business support programme is doing, and consider extending it on a shared basis between Her Majesty’s Government and local government so that we may see a significant reduction in business rates for independent retailers throughout the United Kingdom.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

My Lords, it is good to hear what Northampton is doing. I certainly encourage local areas to share similar schemes with other authorities. Where local authorities are given the power to provide business rate discounts, they do as they see fit and the Government will meet half the cost. The noble Lord asked me about vacancy rates. They have fallen to 9.8% and are at their lowest since records started in 2011. I appreciate the point about online sales, which for many people are becoming more convenient, but retail sales have increased for the 28th consecutive month, the longest sustained period since 2008.