Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

High Street Businesses

Thursday 17 July 2025 · 5 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Sarah Hall inquired about the vibrant independent businesses in Warrington South, highlighting several local enterprises.
  • Liz Twist praised the dedication of small business owners in Blaydon and Consett, emphasizing the role of local businesses in community pride.
  • Greg Smith questioned the government's policies regarding new regulations for hospitality businesses, expressing concern about the impact on struggling small and medium enterprises.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Sarah Hall Labour (Co-op) Warrington South
Business & Trade
Context

The MP highlighted several local businesses in Warrington, such as Gourmand!, Mamars, Hideout, and Zak’s Shack, emphasizing their importance to the community. She mentioned challenges like set-up costs and business rates.

Question

Warrington South is home to brilliant businesses such as Gourmand!, an award-winning French café, Mamars, a wonderful artisan bakery and deli, Hideout, which serves the best piña colada in Warrington —apparently—and the soon-to-open Zak’s Shack, a new parent and child-focused café in Stockton Heath. Such businesses are the beating heart of our town, built by local entrepreneurs who serve the community they love. However, set-up costs, business rates and other barriers make it harder for them to operate. Will the Minister outline how the Department specifically supports the independent hospitality and food retail sector?

Answer from Gareth Thomas

My hon. Friend makes Warrington sound like a particularly attractive place for a Business Minister to visit, so if she does not mind, I will add that to the list of places that I am keen to visit. Independent businesses, as she rightly says, play an important role in supporting local growth and community cohesion. We plan to introduce permanently lower business rates for retail hospitality and leisure properties with a rateable value of under £500,000 and we have introduced a hospitality support scheme to co-fund projects that aim to help those furthest from the job market into employment and to boost productivity. I think that will help many of the businesses in her constituency.

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Q2 Liz Twist Lab Blaydon and Consett
Economy Housing Business & Trade
Context

The MP expressed concern about the impact of austerity measures and cost-of-living issues on local businesses in Blaydon’s Precinct and Consett’s Middle Street.

Question

When I am out and about in my constituency, I am always impressed by the dedication of staff and small business owners who bring our high streets to life. Places such as Blaydon’s Precinct and Consett’s Middle Street are at the heart of local pride and identity, but after years of austerity and a cost of living crisis, empty shops and the loss of vital amenities such as banks have taken a toll, especially in the north-east. What are the Government doing to support local businesses and revitalise high streets such as those?

Answer from Gareth Thomas

Before I had heard about the attractions of Warrington, I had heard about those of Consett. I was pleased to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency and meet many of the great businesses there just before Christmas. We have introduced measures to fill empty properties, including high-street rental auction powers for councils, which can free up space for new businesses. We are also protecting vital services on the high street through the roll-out of banking hubs, with 170 opened so far. This week, we published our Green Paper on the future of the Post Office, which sets out our plans to do even more to provide banking services on high streets, which, again, I hope will help to bring more footfall on to the high street and help businesses such as the ones that she knows only too well.

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Q3 Lewis Atkinson Lab Sunderland Central
Business & Trade
Context

The MP inquired about the progress of a fairer business rates system and its impact on businesses such as online retailers.

Question

In the last Budget, the Government committed to a fairer business rates system that protects the high street. Making sure online retailers pay a fair share of rates will help support businesses on the high street in Sunderland. Will the Minister update the House on the engagement and design work that his Department are carrying out so that that new fairer system can be announced in the Budget?

Answer from Gareth Thomas

The Chancellor announced last year that from the next financial year, 2026-27, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail hospitality and leisure properties. A permanent tax cut will ensure that those businesses will benefit from much-needed certainty and support. Treasury colleagues have been engaging businesses on their proposals for a fairer business rates system. The Government plan to publish an interim report on their work and more detail will also be set out in the Budget in the autumn.

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Q4 Greg Smith Con Mid Buckinghamshire
Economy Employment Business & Trade
Context

The MP refers to a significant increase in costs and job losses in the hospitality sector due to recent policy changes.

Question

With £3.4 billion of extra costs, one in 10 restaurants faces closure this year, costing hospitality 69,000 jobs compared to creating 18,000 new jobs in the previous period. The MP asks for assurance that businesses on the brink will not face further hardships this winter.

Answer from Gareth Thomas

The hon. Gentleman is one of those Conservative Front Benchers who have yet to tell us, if they do not like the increase in national insurance contributions, how they would pay for the extra investment in hospitals, schools and our police force. I gently say that the difficult decisions the Chancellor of the Exchequer had to take in the Budget last year were a direct result of the £22 billion black hole left to us by the Conservatives.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer addresses Conservative failures but does not provide specific assurances or measures for supporting hospitality businesses.

How: Redirecting Blame, Criticising Opposition

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Q5 Greg Smith Con Mid Buckinghamshire
Business & Trade
Context

The MP cites additional regulatory burdens and criticizes the government's approach to supporting small businesses.

Question

The MP questions how the government can look at struggling hospitality SMEs and say that new regulations, including calorie monitoring requirements, are good for business. He refers to Jeremy Clarkson's criticism of the Chancellor's policies as overly punitive.

Answer from Gareth Thomas

One reason the hon. Gentleman’s party lost the confidence of business is that it promised many, many times that it would reform business rates and never did. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has set out our commitment to permanently lower business rates for the hospitality sector—we have already taken steps in that regard—and she will set out our plans to do even more.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer addresses past promises but does not address the specific regulatory concerns raised by the MP.

How: Redirecting Blame, Criticising Opposition

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