High Street Businesses: Government Support

Melanie Onn Excerpts

Thursday 4th June 2026 Westminster Hall

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship this afternoon, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover) on securing the debate.

For some time now, there have been unrelenting efforts from colleagues across the House, many of whom are here today, to keep the future of our high streets firmly on the desks of Ministers. That reflects how important our town centres are not only to local economies but to the social fabric and cohesion of communities right across the country. High streets are where people come together. They are places of commerce, but also places of connection, identity and pride. When they thrive, communities thrive. When they decline, the effects are felt far beyond empty shop fronts and reduced footfall.

One issue that has become impossible to ignore is the growing criminality taking root on some of our high streets. Alongside my hon. Friend the Member for Leigh and Atherton (Jo Platt), I have been leading a campaign to shut down dodgy shops, which has now secured the backing of more than 50 Members from across the House. We were really pleased to meet the Chancellor recently to discuss the steps to tackle the organised criminal enterprises operating behind many premises. I am pleased that significant action has been taken across Government Departments to address the issues, some of which I will outline today.

Progressive announcements in the Budget included increased resources for trading standards officers— I feel I am repeating things that my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West (Phil Brickell) mentioned, but it is worth reinforcing. Budget announcements also included the creation of a dedicated cross-Government taskforce to develop an intelligence-led understanding of organised crime on our high streets; the deployment of 350 newly recruited criminal investigators in HMRC’s fraud investigation service; and the recruitment of 50 additional Insolvency Service staff through a new abusive phoenixism taskforce. These are important and welcome interventions, and they would not have happened if not for my hon. Friend and the APPG he so ably leads.

Under the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026, the Government are introducing a licensing scheme for retailers selling tobacco and vape products, helping to strengthen enforcement and improve accountability across the sector. Most recently the Home Office announced a £30 million enforcement blitz to target organised crime gangs that exploit UK high streets, sending a clear signal that the Government understand both the scale of the challenge and the need for co-ordinated action.

All that will come as very welcome news to residents in communities such as mine in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, because local people are absolutely fed up with seeing their high streets abused. They are frustrated when they see businesses apparently operating outside the law, while honest traders who pay their taxes, employ local people and contribute to their communities in many different ways are expected to compete on an uneven playing field.

However, if we are to achieve the tangible change that communities want to see, the Government must go further and faster. Speed matters because, while we discuss these issues in Westminster and in rooms like this, more of these businesses continue to appear on our high streets. They pop up every single day. Every month that passes without visible enforcement undermines confidence in the rule of law and leaves legitimate businesses feeling completely abandoned.

If this is a Government priority, as I believe it is, we must consider how to encourage more local authorities to move the issue higher up their agendas. Many councils face severe pressures on resources and capacity, but tackling high street criminality cannot be viewed as an optional extra. It must be recognised as central to economic regeneration and community safety. We must continue to reinforce the message that these enterprises are not simply untidy retail operations or minor breaches of regulations: organised criminality, tax evasion, exploitation and fraud lie behind many of them. Frankly, their presence drags down shopping areas, deters investment and damages public confidence.

The prize for getting this issue right is enormous. Economically thriving high streets support local jobs, encourage investment and help small businesses to succeed. Socially, they provide communities with places that they can be proud of, and morally, they help to restore faith that the rules apply equally to everyone. In too many towns across the country people feel left behind, ignored and increasingly sceptical that the law is being enforced fairly. Pulling high streets away from criminal exploitation offers an opportunity not only to revitalise local economies but to rebuild trust. That is why I welcome the progress the Government have already made, but urge Ministers to maintain the pace, strengthen enforcement and ensure that communities finally see the change they have been waiting for.

Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill

Melanie Onn Excerpts

2nd reading
Thursday 21st May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

I pay tribute to my northern Lincolnshire neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Sir Nicholas Dakin), who is a long-time champion and campaigner for protecting and securing the future of Scunthorpe steelworks, which is essential to the fabric of the town and a critical part of its identity.

The Government are right to take the steps needed to bring British Steel back into public ownership. Having our own sovereign steelmaking capacity is crucial to ensuring the UK’s defence and infrastructure security. Jingye has failed as custodians of British Steel in Scunthorpe. It has the opportunity to do the decent thing and come to an agreement before the Government are forced to use the powers in this Bill, and we will wait to see whether it does that.

I know that the Minister for Industry, my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Chris McDonald), has a deep understanding of iron and steelmaking. I am sure he will agree that resolving the ownership issue for British Steel will allow an ambitious future for the business to be realised and a plan to be brought forward that will attract investment.

The UK management and workforce at British Steel have been working in an impossible situation while the Government have been negotiating with the current owners. I hope the current leadership will be empowered by the Government to make the necessary decisions to deliver the positive future for the business that the town deserves.

The trade unions Community, Unite and GMB have worked consistently hard to keep steelmaking in the UK. Could the Minister confirm that the action the Government are taking will enable both management and trade unions to deliver the positive future that everybody wants to see for steelmaking in the UK?

Scunthorpe is home to one of the last very large pieces of industrial land in the UK. The proper development of that land could benefit not just Scunthorpe and my constituency, but the whole of the UK. Can the Minister set out what plans he has to work with North Lincolnshire local authority and other partners to make the most of these opportunities? We do not want to see a first come, first served situation where the best users and custodians of that land are not given the opportunity to take it on. It has to be the right company, which will ensure that the proud history of manufacturing in northern Lincolnshire continues long into the future. Will the Minister confirm that that will be his approach?

Oral Answers to Questions

Melanie Onn Excerpts

Thursday 12th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Blair McDougall]

Our small business strategy sets out the range of measures we are taking to support small businesses. That includes an increase of £4 billion in the finance available to businesses, so that they can invest to take advantage of those opportunities. We will also bring forward the strongest proposals on late payments, to improve cash flow to small businesses, as well as cutting red tape, so that they can take advantage of the opportunities the hon. Member describes.

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

T6. I wish my constituents a happy Great Grimsby Day, to commemorate the signing of our charter in 1201. UK titanium dioxide production like that at Tronox is under threat from aggressive Chinese practices, funnelling cheap product through companies that they buy, run down and hollow out, circumventing protective levies. What is the Minister doing to ensure a level playing field, so that we do not see industry, skills and jobs draining out of the UK?

[The Minister for Trade (Chris Bryant)]

I thank my hon. Friend for standing up for the business in her constituency, and she is absolutely right. The Trade Remedies Authority is investigating, as she knows, and I urge industry to participate in that, although I cannot comment on the precise details of the investigation because it might eventually come to my desk. Importantly, we need to make sure that dumping is not acceptable, because it makes it impossible for British businesses to prosper. We will do everything in our power to make sure that we use the remedies available to us to protect British businesses.

Royal Mail: Universal Service Obligation

Melanie Onn Excerpts

Wednesday 11th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Blair McDougall]

That is a very fair question. As I mentioned, the Secretary of State brought together the ownership and management to stress the need to get an agreement on reforms to improve service standards. Those things are all connected. I have stressed, in no uncertain terms, my dissatisfaction with current levels of service. On NHS letters, I and Department of Health and Social Care colleagues are pressing to ensure that more NHS bodies take advantage of the barcode system, so that those letters are prioritised. Royal Mail is a private company, but we are exercising the pressure that we can in order to ensure that standards are improved.

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

My understanding is that letters must not be treated less favourably than parcels, but that is happening at the moment through internal Royal Mail targets. That is the case at the Fotherby Street sorting office in Grimsby, where a tracked-first policy is in place, meaning that parcels take priority, while letters and non-tracked mail are not prioritised. First and second-class cards and letters are left sitting in frames for days and weeks. That builds up, as other Members have said.

Route revisions are also an issue for posties, some of whom regularly walk 30,000 to 40,000 steps a day. That is causing exhaustion, injury and illness. It is not acceptable in any way for the Government to say that they cannot do anything. What will they do to force Ofcom to take action that will get things moving and change a policy that leaves people’s letters sat in their frames for days?

[Blair McDougall]

My hon. Friend voices her frustration—which is shared across the House—about the disconnect between what she is hearing from local sorting offices and the stated company policy. As I say, I will raise the prioritisation of parcels with Ofcom later. On the wider issue of working conditions for posties, the Secretary of State has brought together the owners and the company to stress the importance of progressing those issues and getting to a situation in which quality of service improves and the workforce feel properly rewarded and respected.

INEOS Chemicals: Grangemouth

Melanie Onn Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris McDonald]

My hon. Friend is right to point out that it is only this Labour Government who have made this decision. This is an appropriate time to identify that the intervention in Grangemouth has a significant impact on securing our ethylene pipeline, which runs across the whole of the UK, as well as on chemical plants in Runcorn and the Forties pipeline. That demonstrates that interventions like this and plants such as Grangemouth work well when we are all part of an integrated United Kingdom.

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

Members might ask, “What has Grimsby got to do with Grangemouth?” Well, this is great news for Grangemouth, but I am afraid it will be cold comfort to the workers at the Prax Lindsey oil refinery, where 400 directly employed people have already lost or will lose their jobs by March, along with hundreds more in the supply chain. They will be asking, “Why the investment there but not here?” Is there any good news on the horizon for jobs in petrochemicals or energy in the Humber?

[Chris McDonald]

That is exactly the right question to ask about the Prax Lindsey oil refinery. One of the fundamental differences between the two is the Government’s ability to deal with the owner. The owner of the Prax Lindsey oil refinery left the business in a really terrible state. Of course, we all care very deeply for the workers there and for the families in Humberside; having worked in Humberside myself, I empathise greatly with them.

We are now in the late stages of the process with the official receiver, who has confirmed some redundancies because the offers he has received do not see refinery production returning within the next few years. We hope that process will conclude in the new year. I believe the jobs are guaranteed until March, and the Government have provided significant transitional support to help the workers to move into other jobs in the local area.

Oral Answers to Questions

Melanie Onn Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

13. What steps he is taking to support small businesses.

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

19. What steps he is taking to support small businesses in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes constituency.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)]

Our small business strategy will be published later this year and will set out our plans to champion entrepreneurs, improve access to finance and help small and medium-sized enterprises to reach more markets and adopt new technology. As I alluded to earlier, we are developing our plans for our new business growth service, simplifying access to support and advice for small businesses. We are also tackling the challenge of late payments, including the introduction of a new fair payment code and upcoming legislation requiring large companies to report annually on their payment performance.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gareth Thomas]

I recognise that my hon. Friend has been very persistent on this issue, and he is entirely right to be so. We have been working with colleagues in the Home Office and the National Crime Agency to take action to crack down on illegitimate businesses that threaten to undermine the legitimate ones that exist on all of our high streets. In March, the National Economic Crime Centre co-ordinated a three-week crackdown on barbershops and other cash-intensive businesses where there were concerns, visiting almost 400 premises and securing freezing orders over a series of bank accounts totalling more than £1 million.

[Melanie Onn]

I thank the Minister for his answer, but I really do need to press him, because my constituents in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes are as fed up as those of my hon. Friend the Member for Kensington and Bayswater (Joe Powell) with seeing high streets dominated by dodgy vape shops and unlicensed barbers. While some of those businesses are legitimate, a recent BBC investigative report shows that many are involved in money laundering and organised crime. Obviously, the Minister is aware of the situation, but is he working closely with the Home Office to try to tackle this blight? We probably need a national strategy, not a three-week operation.

[Gareth Thomas]

My hon. Friend is right to say that this is not just an issue for our high streets, such as those mentioned by our hon. Friend the Member for Kensington and Bayswater (Joe Powell), but a concern up and down the country. The National Crime Agency and Home Office colleagues are seeking to take action against illegitimate businesses, and my hon. Friend will recognise that the announcement in yesterday’s spending review of additional police officers, with more to come over the spending review period, will help us with that activity.

British Steel

Melanie Onn Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his continued support for his community. Yes, I am very happy to meet the leader of North Lincolnshire council, as I have done previously; he is an incredibly important part of the jigsaw of what happens in the area. I am always happy to meet MPs—I meet my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Sir Nicholas Dakin) and the hon. Gentleman regularly—and will continue to do so to ensure that we work in the interests of the whole area.

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Sir Nicholas Dakin) on his tireless advocacy for the steelworkers and his Scunthorpe constituents—it should be recognised. How has the Government’s decision to take control of British Steel been received by the workforce, customers and suppliers?

[Sarah Jones]

I agree with my hon. Friend’s comments about the tireless work of our hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe on securing the future of British Steel. The Secretary of State went to the British Steel site in Scunthorpe just after the legislation was passed. I think it is fair to say that there was great relief after our intervention, but workers will also quite rightly be asking us, “What happens next and how will you secure the future of the site?” We are now completely focused on that.

Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill

Melanie Onn Excerpts

2nd reading
Saturday 12th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

I am delighted to follow the right hon. Member for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh). Given his Damascene conversion to socialism today, he could be termed the new “Red Ed”.

I welcome the Government’s decisive action to bring security for workers at Scunthorpe. They are grasping the nettle after the can has been kicked down the road for far too long. British Steel at Scunthorpe is not just of interest to that town; its importance emanates across northern Lincolnshire to my constituents in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Whether directly or indirectly, the employment and training opportunities that come from that single site are so important to our local economy, and the product is, of course, nationally important. When I consider the businesses that operate across the Humber and northern Lincolnshire, I think the industries that are relevant to securing the future of steel seem strong. From the Siemens factory in Goole to the boatyards of Hull and the turbines off the Cleethorpes coast, the products that Scunthorpe could have a role in producing are plain for us all to see.

The Government must turn their attention to the next steps, because the measures we are taking today are not without risk. Unless we set a course for steel in the UK that closely aligns with our industrial strategy, this will be only another sticking plaster for a site that has already been put through the wringer too many times over the years. The powers that the Government seek today will protect the workers at British Steel from any retaliatory measures that Jingye may have sought to take. That is welcomed by those workers, who have often felt at the mercy of the company’s owners and unseen by the Government.

[Luke Akehurst (North Durham) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that one major way in which we could secure markets for British steel is through the “British first” strategy that the Ministry of Defence has set out for the building of future warships?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

Okay, can people please not take or text photographs? I do not know if that is the case here, but your name has just been associated with it.

[Melanie Onn]

I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Luke Akehurst); it is imperative that we tie up all the initiatives that this Government are bringing forward, whether in defence or other critical areas of industry, to make sure we can secure the long-term future of steel.

To ensure the best chance of successfully securing a private partner or long-term commercial solution, the Government must take all actions available within their powers and do all they can to make British Steel viable. I wonder whether now is perhaps the time for the Government to look again at the carbon border adjustment mechanism. The EU has already brought in the adjustment mechanism to protect against international steel dumping. By doing all we can—whether by keeping down energy costs, as I know the Minister has sought to do, investing through the national wealth fund or, indeed, bringing in the CBAM—this is our chance to secure a genuine, long-term solution for the preservation of British Steel.

Scunthorpe Steelworks

Melanie Onn Excerpts

Monday 7th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I can reassure the hon. Lady that we are developing a long- term plan in the industrial strategy. We are developing the plan for steel, as I have said, and alongside that we have our trade strategy, which has become very significant in recent times. She is right to point to the tariffs that have been placed on steel and aluminium. This is a deeply difficult situation and I have met the steel sector on multiple occasions to talk about it. That is what the conversation that is happening in Stafford as we speak is about: what extra measures need to be put in place. The Secretary of State met the Trade Remedies Authority this morning to push on some of the issues around trade protections.

The hon. Lady talked about the SME manufacturing supply chain. Of course that is very important and we will do what we can within the industrial strategy and the steel strategy to support those businesses. I understand that the speculation about what may or may not happen at Scunthorpe is deeply distressing, not just to the workers and their families but to all those who are part of the supply chain. That is why we will continue at pace to have the conversations we need to have with British Steel to ensure that we do the right thing, and as I said, nothing is off the table.

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

The whole of northern Lincolnshire will feel the brunt of this British Steel decision, should the site close, and I urge Jingye to reconsider the Government’s generous £500 million offer. Support through the Department for Work and Pensions is really welcome but the truth is that people have been leaving British Steel for years because of the cycle of its uncertain future. I welcome the Government’s comment that no options are off the table. In the interim, are the Government considering ordering the raw materials to keep the blast furnaces burning?

[Sarah Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for pointing out that the uncertainty that has existed for many years is difficult for people, and that if they can secure jobs elsewhere, they will do that. I have been to Scunthorpe and talked to people who work there and to the trade unions a lot, as she would expect, to make sure that we understand all the issues at play.

I understand my hon. Friend’s question about what we may or may not do in the immediate term, but I hope she will respect the fact that we cannot at this point talk about what we might end up doing, because those conversations are commercially sensitive. I want to reassure her, and the whole House, that we are doing what we can to ensure we get the right solution and that we do not want the blast furnaces to close.

North Sea Energy

Melanie Onn Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, and indeed for the good relationship we have built up from his speaking on behalf of his constituents in relation to steel and other sectors that we have talked about. Of course, energy-intensive industries talk to us about energy prices, and we are looking to see what we can do. I held a roundtable last week with the energy-intensive industries�steel, chemicals, ceramics of course, and others�and we are looking at what we can do to make sure they can be profitable and grow.

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes) (Lab)]

Conservative-led North East Lincolnshire council has embraced the green industries that are helping to reshape our identity in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, and it is playing a critical role in decarbonising our energy estuary. Does the Minister agree that the Opposition�s new anti-renewables position undermines the ambition of young people in my constituency, who are excited by this sector? They are keen to work with these companies, which do good, pay well, provide training and benefit the community.

[Sarah Jones]

My hon. Friend is standing up for the jobs and the young people in her community, and it is a shame that the national Conservative party Opposition do not seem clear on what their policy is. Where people can see the jobs and the benefits, councils such as her Conservative-led council support renewables, but for some reason Conservative Front Benchers do not. I do not understand that, but we will keep backing this agenda because we know it will deliver jobs.