BRC reactions to Labour's five-point plan for high streets
On a visit to Great Yarmouth today, the leader of the Labour party Sir Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out the party's five-point plan to revitalise high streets.
While the plan features some welcome elements, including greater support to tackle anti-social behaviour, the plan is missing some key elements which will underpin the successful transformation of high streets, such as measures to improve public transport and parking, the provision of ultrafast broadband in town centres and an approach which recognises and supports a wider mix of uses - like leisure, care, residential and coworking spaces - on future high streets.
Labour have already set out their ambitions to replace business rates with a new tax fit for the 21st century. The plan states that "high street businesses shouldn't face big tax hikes whilst online giants are let off the hook. Labour would cut business rates for small businesses on the high street, paid for by properly taxing online giants".
We have been clear in our reaction (below) that any reform of business rates must bring the burden down for retailers of all sizes - not just small businesses - and account for the omnichannel nature of modern retailing. We will be engaging with Labour as we build up to next year's General Election, including on their plans for business rates reform and wider plans for high streets. Keep an eye out for more details which will be coming shortly.
In the meantime, you can find Labour's press release in full beneath our reaction.
BRC reaction
Responding to Labour's five-point plan to revitalise high streets, Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:
“The successful transformation of high streets to places with a wider mix of uses, including retail but with more leisure, care in the community, public services and housing, requires strong local leadership, proactive councils and effective national policies. It is positive to see Labour focus on some of the steps needed to realise this vision through plans to bring empty shops back into use, tackle anti-social behaviour and support energy efficiency investment which could help as retailers target net zero by 2040.
“It is vital that solutions for thriving high streets are fully considered, don’t add complexity or cost to retailers and recognise the nature of modern retailing, whereby the majority of retailers sell both online and in stores. Retail accounts for 5% of the economy but pays more than one-fifth of business rates. The overall industry tax take is unsustainably high and contributes to shop closures, job losses and stifled investment. There must be a permanent freeze of business rates and a cut to the multiplier in the longer term: it’s crucial that any business rates reform reflects how modern retail works, and lowers the burden for retailers of all sizes.”
Labour five-point plan to revitalise high streets press release
As Labour leader Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves visit Great Yarmouth, the Labour Party [TODAY] launches a new five point plan to revitalise local high streets and reverse 13 years of decline for beloved local shops, pubs and entertainment facilities.
High streets have been the target of rising costs due to Tory economic mismanagement, steep tax rises and spiking energy bills. Meanwhile, a decade of low growth means footfall has plummeted across the country and firms have struggled to attract customers.
Local economies impacted by these harsh increases have led to more boarded-up shops, making high streets less pleasant places to shop, eat and relax. The Tories failure to tackle crimes like anti-social behaviour also means local people are less likely to visit local high streets.
To combat this anti-social behaviour, Labour have announced that they will launch a Police Efficiency & Collaboration Programme, working with police forces and PCCs to deliver over £350 million in procurement and shared services savings, which will be used to pay for 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs.
Local customers across the UK have also fallen victim to the harsh increase in price of everyday essentials, as costs have skyrocketed by a further £3,500 due to Tory mismanagement of the cost of living crisis.
New analysis shows the UK has lost over 6,000 pubs, nearly 4,000 local shops and 9,000 bank branches from local high streets under the Conservatives.
Labour [TODAY] announces a new plan to reverse 13 years of decline and revitalise local high streets, with policies to cut business rates, cut energy bills, stamp out late payments, revamp empty shops and tackle anti-social behaviour.
- Cut business rates: high street businesses shouldn't face big tax hikes whilst online giants are let off the hook. Labour would cut business rates for small businesses on the high street, paid for by properly taxing online giants. Our policy would be worth over £2.6k to the average pub, café or restaurant.
- Cut energy bills:many beloved high street businesses face an uncertain future due to spiking energy bills. Labour will help them cut their bills for good with vouchers for energy efficiency measures – such as double glazing at a local cinema, a new heat pump in a café or an electric vehicle for a takeaway.
- Stamp out late payments:high street firms shouldn't be forced to wait months to be paid for work by big clients. Labour would introduce tough new laws to stamp out late payments and make sure more money gets to high street firms.
- Revamp empty shops:people won't visit high streets blighted by unsightly boarded up shops. Labour will give councils strong new powers to bring empty shops on their high streets back into use.
- Tackle anti-social behaviour:people should feel safe when they go out to shop, eat or have fun on their local high street. Labour will get 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on our streets and introduce tough new measures to crack down on anti-social behaviour that blights local high streets.
Notes
Labour's 5 point plan:
Cut small business rates: Labour would cut business rates for small businesses by raising the threshold for Small Business Rates Relief in 2023-24. The cut would be paid for by raising the Digital Services Tax paid by online giants like Amazon. Average saving assumes Labour's policy applies to a pub, restaurant or café with median rateable value as recorded by the Valuation Office Agency. (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-stock-of-properties-2022)
Cut energy bills: Labour would allocate £700 million to support small businesses to cut their energy bills in the long term. The scheme would give vouchers to small firms to install energy saving measures such as insulation, heat pumps or a switch to electric vehicles. The scheme would be administered as a voucher scheme with small business able to claim for energy saving measures purchased from a list of approved suppliers. The scheme would be paid for by Labour's proposed fixes to the windfall tax on oil and gas giants.
Stamp out late payments: Labour would introduce tough new laws to tackle late payments. The legislation would require big businesses to report on their company's payment practices in their annual reports. This measure will require audit committees to report on late payments, making boards more accountable and providing further clarity for smaller businesses. Large companies have a duty to report publicly on their payment policies, practices and performance. However, this reporting process is not integrated into the financial reporting process of these companies, and many companies continue to pay their suppliers late at the expense of smaller businesses.
Revamp empty shops: Labour would give councils new powers to take over empty shops and reopen them without consent from the property's owners. Empty Shop Orders would see councils work with owners to bring empty shops back into use after 12 months of vacancy. Councils would have the power to secure management rights, carry out works and put the property to use, with rent revenues being directed back to the owner. The premises would be offered to local small business for a discounted rent.
Tackle anti-social behaviour: Labour would introduce new town centre police patrols and a mandatory antisocial behaviour police lead for every local neighbourhood as part of Labour's Neighbourhood Police Guarantee with 13,000 neighbourhood police and PCSOs. We would also implement a statutory duty for local partners to cooperate to tackle antisocial behaviour, with mandatory antisocial behaviour officers in every local authority area.
This will be paid for with Labour's Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee through a Police Efficiency & Collaboration programme, establishing:
- Centralised standard-setting for procurement
- Increased collaboration on shared services and specialist functions
Analysis on high streets uses ONS data on business counts to track the fall in local units for particular categories of high street businesses, including pubs, banks and physical retail (i.e retail in stores, stalls or markets).
Accessed via nomis, April 2023, https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/ukbc