Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure

Steve Witherden Excerpts

Monday 19th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

The right hon. Gentleman raised the issue of small businesses. It is worth nothing that a third of properties pay no business rates at all, as they receive 100% small business rate relief, and that a further 85,000 will benefit from reduced bills as this support tapers away.

[Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)]

Hospitality is the UK’s third largest employer; when the sector is hit, jobs are affected at scale. Pubs sit at the heart of the hospitality industry. In Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, we have 136 great pubs, employing more than 1,100 across the constituency, including the Eagles in Acrefair, where my wife used to work behind the bar, and the brilliant pub, the Hand, in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog. What steps is the Minister taking to support jobs in the hospitality sector?

[Dan Tomlinson]

I must say, I am very jealous that my hon. Friend has over 100 pubs in his constituency; I have only 27 in mine, and I have not made it round all of them yet. He is right to highlight the importance of the employment and job opportunities that can be provided by the hospitality sector, with around 2 million people working in it. Many people’s first job is in hospitality, helping them to get their foot on the career ladder and progress in their careers. That is why the Government provided significant support for hospitality businesses at the Budget, and it is why I will continue to engage with my hon. Friend and other Members on the issue of business rates and other matters where we can support our high streets.

Covid-19: Financial Support

Steve Witherden Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)]

I thank my friend the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) for securing this incredibly important and long-overdue debate, and for being such a strong voice for those excluded from covid-19 financial support.

The gaps in covid-19 financial support all-party parliamentary group, which I chair, currently has 77 cross- party members, which demonstrates the strength of feeling across the House and the desire to represent constituents affected by this issue. We have just heard a powerful case for acknowledging that approximately 3.8 million people were wholly or partially excluded from meaningful covid-19 financial support. Years later, many remain burdened by unimaginable debt, some disgusting smears, declining mental health and the loss of homes, businesses and livelihoods.

I was an advocate for some of these under-represented people in my previous role as the NASUWT national executive member for the six counties of north Wales. Supply teachers, with no contracted hours at all and no guaranteed work from day to day, even before the pandemic, were placed in a terrible position. In four of the north Wales counties I represented, a furlough-type payment was arranged. In two, Gwynedd and Ynys Môn, a furlough payment was not arranged. That cohort of workers went through incredibly difficult times. In any capacity, professional or otherwise, when we speak with people who cannot pay their rent or are in mortgage arrears, or when we hear young, hungry children crying in the background over the phone, it leaves a deep and lasting impression.

During the run-up to the 2024 general election, I met campaigners for ExcludedUK and learned that this situation was far bigger than supply teachers in two counties in north-west Wales; it affected millions of people across the country and in many different industries. One of those campaigners was Ken, a small business owner and now a constituent of mine. He remembers the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak) promising to the nation that no one would be left behind, and then the shock of finding himself with no support. Not only was he left without support for day-to-day living, but he had to shoulder the ongoing costs of keeping a business afloat. The pandemic brought much to a halt, but software licences, professional fees and other essential overheads did not stop.

Ken began working at age 17 and is now 72. He describes the pandemic as the only time he needed help. The help was not there. That feeling has stayed with him ever since, and not only because of the toll on his mental health, but because of the monthly reminder when he has to repay the bounce back loan that he was forced to take out in order to survive the pandemic.

Ken’s is just one of many people still suffering from the after effects of being excluded. Forty known suicides have been directly linked to exclusion from covid-19 financial support, but hundreds more people have attempted suicide, and there is widespread clinical anxiety, depression and trauma. Those figures relate only to individuals known within the ExcludedUK membership, and are likely to represent only a fraction of the true number.

Will the Minister acknowledge that the exclusion of around 3.8 million taxpayers from meaningful covid-19 financial support was a serious policy failure? Will the Government publish an assessment of the continuing financial and psychological harm, including suicide risk, and set out the support pathway for affected people? Finally, what steps is he taking to ensure that future crisis support will be inclusive, with stronger parliamentary oversight?

I wish to put on the record my personal thanks to Jennifer Griffiths, head of member welfare at ExcludedUK and secretariat of the APPG—she is the backbone of this campaign, and without her tireless work, many more lives would have been lost—as well as to Tim Pravda, for his long-standing advocacy and indispensable voice in this ongoing fight for justice. I would appreciate it if the Minister agreed to meet the APPG, ExcludedUK and bereaved families of those who died by suicide linked to exclusion.

Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

Steve Witherden Excerpts

Monday 5th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Tomlinson]

Over the course of recent months—since I have been in the Government, from September onwards—Ministers from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and from the Treasury have continued to engage with farming communities and with business communities. As has been raised by some Members today, it is worth remembering that this change affects business property relief, not just agricultural property relief. As a result of that listening and engagement, we have come forward with this change in time for it to be included in the Finance (No. 2) Bill.

[Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)]

This month marks 12 months since I first called on the Government to raise the APR threshold. I strongly welcome their decision to do so, and thank NFU Cymru and the Farmers’ Union of Wales for their tireless campaigning. Can the Minister assure me that the Government will continue to listen to rural communities like mine?

[Dan Tomlinson]

Yes, I can reassure my hon. Friend that we will continue to listen to, and engage with, the over 150 Labour MPs who represent rural and semi-rural constituencies.

Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Witherden Excerpts

Tuesday 9th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rachel Reeves)]

Sorry, Mr Speaker, bear with me. [Laughter.] This Government are committed to growing the economy, and we were the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year. We have done three trade deals and cut interest rates five times—and I did not even need my notes to remember all that.

[Steve Witherden]

New polling by the Trades Union Congress shows that the public overwhelmingly support packages of taxes on wealth, on banks and on gambling companies. It also found that 74% of 2024 Labour voters who are now leaning towards Reform back those measures. Will the Chancellor commit to protecting working people from higher taxes on their income by ensuring that wealth pays its fair share, rather than imposing cuts and regressive measures?

[Rachel Reeves]

In the Budget last year, we got rid of the non-dom tax status, we put up capital gains tax, we started treating carried interest as income—not as capital gains—we introduced new taxes on private jets, we put VAT and business rates on private school fees and, of course, we changed the rules around agricultural property relief so that people who have farms worth more than £3 million will pay inheritance tax, although at half the rate that everybody else does. We took a number of measures last year to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share.

Some countries around the world do have a wealth tax, but countries like Switzerland, for example, do not have inheritance tax. I think it would be a mistake to get rid of inheritance tax and replace it with an unproven tax without knowing what revenue it would bring in.

Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Witherden Excerpts

Tuesday 21st January 2025 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

One of my key priorities as Exchequer Secretary and the Minister with responsibility for HMRC is to oversee a programme of transformation at HMRC to improve its customer service, to digitise the service, to close the tax gap and to ensure that we have the modern, reformed service that we need for the future.

[Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)]

T5. I draw Members’ attention to my entry in the register of all-party parliamentary groups. During the covid-19 pandemic, 3.8 million self-employed UK taxpayers were shamefully excluded from Government financial support. Many, including pregnant women and war veterans, were forgotten about by the Conservative party. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how to address the unfairness faced by so many during the pandemic?

[James Murray]

As my hon. Friend set out, decisions on eligibility for covid-19 financial support were taken by the previous Government. The current Government have no plans to assess the financial compensation scheme, but the covid-19 inquiry has recently launched its module to investigate the economic response to the pandemic. The Government are committed to learning from its findings.