Lord Thurlow (CB) [V]:...Of course, the body blow to traditional
retail is Covid. For many retailers, it is the death knell of their
businesses. Every day, the newspapers remind us of high street
retailers folding. A few will be bought out of administration but
many will disappear, with jobs lost, debts, personal guarantees and
tragedy. However, if you are Amazon or any internet retailer, Covid
has played into your hands, with low rent, low rates and collapsing
competition... Lord Cormack...Request free trial
(CB) [V]:...Of course, the body blow to
traditional retail is Covid. For many retailers, it is the death
knell of their businesses. Every day, the newspapers remind us of
high street retailers folding. A few will be bought out of
administration but many will disappear, with jobs lost, debts,
personal guarantees and tragedy. However, if you are Amazon or any internet retailer, Covid
has played into your hands, with low rent, low rates and collapsing
competition...
(Con) [V]:...I want to concentrate my remarks on
our town, city and, indeed, village centres, and on our high
streets. The noble Lord, , in
particular, made some extremely important points: if you want to
sustain the throwaway society, all you need to do is depopulate our
town and city centres. What has to be addressed in the review—it is
vital that it is thorough and that we have it soon—is the disparity
of treatment between town centre and high-street shops and the vast
warehouses, which we have all drawn on during periods of lockdown.
They perform a valuable service but they are getting away, if not
scot free, then with very little to pay for it. We have to readjust
the balance; we have to means test business rates in a way that
means the Amazons of this world pay what they
properly should, and the small, specialist shops in a glorious town
such as Ludlow in Shropshire, or Louth here in Lincolnshire, are
not penalised to the point of extinction...
(Non-Afl) [V]:...Initially, I referred
to the fact that there is a direct correlation between the
prosperity of our towns and cities—as already referred to by the
noble Lord, Lord Cormack—and business rates and revaluations. There
is a need to protect, boost and regenerate high streets. An
opportunity must be given during this pandemic to rebuild
businesses and their revenue-creating potential. Many of them have
been forced to close because they are considered non-essential.
Some were never able to open following the first lockdown,
including many in the hospitality and retail sector, and they have
lost a lot of important revenue. That must be reflected in the
Government’s root-and-branch review of business rates. They have
also had to compete with large out-of-town supermarkets and the
online trade from companies such as Amazon Therefore, those retail
businesses and general businesses have found themselves undermined
in every sector. This must be addressed...
(Con)
[V]: My Lords, I welcome both Bills. I completely
support the noble Lord, , in what he said. When we are reforming the rating
system, we absolutely need to follow the money and move in the wake
of Amazon and make sure that, at
least where we can bite it, which is its distribution centres, it
is paying a proper rate of tax. It is important that we look at the
effect our tax system has on our businesses and that we do not
disadvantage native UK businesses and advantage overseas ones, as
we have been doing for years in our VAT system...
(LD) [V]:...A delay in assessing and then
introducing new rateable values is understandable. However, this is
tinkering at the edges, while our town centres are in deep trouble.
As my noble friends, , Lady Thornhill and Lady Bowles have pointed out, there
is a desperate and urgent need for wholesale reform of the business
rates system. There are two fundamental reasons for radical reform,
as many noble Lords have referenced during this debate. First, the
current system is based on an out-of-date concept of business being
dependent on well-located property. In the retail sector,
Amazon and hundreds of other such
businesses have blown that idea out of the water. The growth of
digital-only businesses adds to that argument. Secondly, income
from business rates forms a large part of the spending of local
government. Loss of business rates income, due to the move away
from the high street, has a consequence for the funding available
for local council services. Fewer shops means less income from
business rates, and this is at a time when there is a growing
demand for services due to the pandemic...
(Lab Co-op):...Many noble Lords
mentioned the contribution of the noble Lord, . He made that very valid point about high streets and
ensuring that online businesses pay their fair share, as did the
noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb. The noble Lord,
, made some excellent points about support for the high
street, small shops and towns such as Louth in Lincolnshire, which
I know well. As I said earlier, tourism will once again be an
important part of our economy. We have to have the shops for
tourists, as well as local people, to visit. As I said, the big
online businesses—the Amazons—have to pay their
fair share, and the Government need to ensure that they do
so...
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