Steps in the right direction

Andrew Goodacre , CEO of Bira (British Independent Retailers Association) talks about the Labour Party’s new five-point plan to ‘revitalise local high streets’

The leader of the Labour party Sir Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves have launched a five-point plan in which they have pledged to get our high streets thriving again. With this new plan now in hand, I wanted to share some of my thoughts. The five points of action are:

• Cut business rates for small businesses, paid for by raising the Digital Services Tax paid by online giants such as Amazon. Labour has said it wants to scrap business rates altogether in the long term;

• Introduce a £700 million voucher scheme allowing small businesses to make energy efficiency measures such as installing double glazing or buying electric vehicles;

• Tackle late payments to small businesses, by forcing big businesses to publish information on payment practices in their annual reports;

• Give local councils powers to take over empty shops and reopen them without consent from the properties’ owners;

• Introduce town centre patrols as part of Labour’s pledge to recruit 13,000 more neighbourhood police and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).

In general, it’s hard to argue with any of these measures. Business rates remain the number one issue for high street retailers, and we welcome the commitment to wholesale reform in the longer term. Instead of cutting rates for smaller retailers, I would like to see them removed altogether - and this would cost about £1.5 billion, 5% of the total rates income.

Following rates as a business burden is the cost of energy. It’s right that there is financial support available to enable smaller retailers to take appropriate measures. Many have already started doing this, to reduce energy consumption. But as well as grants, we need to ensure that landlords will also allow the work to be done and share the responsibility.

The plan to deal with empty shops is already an existing commitment by the current government, so this is not new. Bira has been heavily involved with developing this policy, but I feel it will only be used as a last resort by the authorities. I question how many buildings will be brought back into use, but it remains an option. Empty shops are not good for any high street.

Creating a safe and secure high street is important, so we support the proposal to bring in specific patrols. Anti-social behaviour and retail crime are blights on the high streets. Not only do these issues make shoppers feel unsafe, but it damages businesses, and we have seen an alarming increase in the abuse of retail staff. I would like to see more direction being given to the police and crime commissioners, and ensure that business crime and safe high streets are included in their plans.

We applaud the Labour party for bringing forward these ideas – they are steps in the right direction. But we need so much more if high streets are to thrive.

Planning could be easier. We need to see local authorities instructed to work with businesses when developing local plans. We want to see accessibility to towns improve with public transport, and a different approach to the provision of parking.

We have been talking to the Labour party to discuss our thoughts and ideas. There is a commitment to the high street, but actions will always speak louder than words. Call: