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1313718

registered interest
date	11/05/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Retail Trade
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the BRC's Retail Sales Monitor, published on 11 May; and what steps they are taking to reduce the shop vacancy rate.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL110
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/05/2021 answer text <p>In order to mitigate against a rise in the number of vacant units, the Government has introduced a range of measures to protect businesses that are struggling to pay their rent due to Covid-19. The moratorium on commercial landlord’s right to forfeiture for the non-payment of rent (Section 82 Coronavirus Act 2020) is extended to the end of June 2021. Landlords are also prevented from using winding up petitions and statutory demands to pursue rent debt and the use of Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery (CRAR) has also been suspended, both extended until 30 June 2021.</p><p> </p><p>In order to help inform the Government’s strategy to exit these protections, and to gather evidence on the progress of negotiations regarding rent debt between landlords and tenants, a Call for Evidence was launched on 6 April. This closed on 4 May and the Government will make an announcement on future policy ahead of 30 June 2021.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to reduce the financial burden on retailers by providing eligible retail, hospitality, and leisure properties in England with 100% business rates relief until 30 June 2021. This will be followed by 66% business rates relief for the period from 1 July 2021 to 31 March 2022, capped at £2 million per business for properties that were required to be closed on 5 January 2021, or £105,000 per business for other eligible properties.</p><p> </p><p>We have introduced reforms to the use classes to enable more flexible use of existing buildings. These came into force on 1 September 2020. The use class reform creates a new ‘commercial, business and service’ use class which encompasses a wide range of uses which will attract people to high streets and town centres. This includes offices and other business uses, shops, cafes, gyms and any other uses which are suitable in a town centre. The new class also allows for mixed uses to reflect changing retail and business models. These reforms will help support high streets and town centres as they seek to recover from the economic impact of Covid-19 Businesses will have greater flexibility to change use without planning permission, allowing them to adapt and diversify more quickly to meet changing circumstances.</p> answering member printed Lord Callanan question first answered 25/05/2021 16:39:28 answering member 4336 label Biography information for Lord Callanan
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1280650

registered interest
date	26/01/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Retail Trade
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to tackle retail scalping in (a) low stock high demand consumer electronics and (b) other products.
tabling member constituency	Leeds North West
tabling member printed	Alex Sobel
uin	143893
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2021 answer text <p>The Government is discussing this issue with trade associations such as Ukie. We know that bulk purchasing through automated bots is a concern for some of their members who we understand are currently examining further actions they can take to prevent these behaviours, and are working with their retailers to improve experiences for customers.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 01/02/2021 14:56:45 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4658 label Biography information for Alex Sobel

1224087

registered interest
date	13/07/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Retail Trade
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which an inability to pay rents has contributed to the number of failing retail businesses in 2020.
tabling member printed	Lord Allen of Kensington
uin	HL6744
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2020 answer text <p>Government recognises that there can be complex reasons behind the failure of certain retail businesses.</p><p> </p><p>The UK government has extended measures to protect struggling companies from eviction over the summer. The extension, until the end of September, comes alongside further support to help local businesses plan for economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>A new code of practice has been developed with leaders from the retail, hospitality, and property sectors to provide clarity for businesses when discussing rental payments and to encourage best practice so that all parties are supported.</p><p> </p><p>These interventions are in addition to the comprehensive financial package provided by the UK Government to businesses during this difficult time and is in recognition of the strain that the sector is currently under.</p> answering member printed Lord Callanan question first answered 24/07/2020 12:49:44 answering member 4336 label Biography information for Lord Callanan
tabling member	4304 label Biography information for Lord Allen of Kensington

1156135

registered interest
date	24/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Retail Trade
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to support discussions between local governments and the retail industry to help ensure a joint approach to draw consumers to the high street.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	4920
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to helping communities adapt to market processes and we are taking action to help the high street evolve. In July 2019, my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a £3.6 billion Towns Fund to re-energise local economies so that everyone can share in a new era of prosperity. This included £1 billion for the Future High Streets Fund, which will support local areas in England to renew and reshape town centres and high streets in a way that improves experience, drives growth and ensures future sustainability.</p><p>We are also supporting local leadership with a High Streets Task Force, giving high streets and town centres expert advice to adapt and thrive. This will provide hands-on support to local areas to develop data-driven innovative strategies and connect local areas to relevant experts. The Task Force will also provide training and help to improve coordination between different groups working to improve their high streets which includes retailers.</p><p>The Government has also established the industry led Retail Sector Council​ to bring Government and industry together to boost the sector's productivity and economic health. The Council has established its six priority workstreams which includes the Industrial Strategy with a focus on place. The Council has identified high streets as an important area to be considered on an ongoing basis.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 30/10/2019 16:33:04 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst previous answer version 2598 answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1148159

registered interest
date	03/10/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Retail Trade
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps her Department has taken to support high street retailers.
tabling member constituency	Woking
tabling member printed	Mr Jonathan Lord
uin	294167
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/10/2019 answer text <p>Government wants all types of retail to thrive, and we are supporting the sector as it responds to change. This is why we established the industry led Retail Sector Council to bring Government and industry together to help the sector address key sector issues and define its future strategy.</p><p> </p><p>The Council is prioritising its work to address the key challenges facing the sector and is focussing on; costs to business, skills and lifelong learning, employment protection, consumer protection, the circular economy and the Industrial Strategy. The priority areas were selected by the industry and each workstream is being led by a senior industry figure.</p><p> </p><p>In July 2019, the Prime Minister set out this Government’s plan to unite and level up cities, towns, coastal and rural areas across our country. He announced a £3.6 billion Towns Fund to set out his vision to re-energise local economies so that everyone can share in a new era of prosperity. This included £1 billion for the Future High Streets Fund, which will support local areas in England to renew and reshape town centres and high streets in a way that improves experience, drives growth and ensures future sustainability.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, we are supporting local leadership with a High Streets Task Force<strong>, </strong>giving high streets and town centres expert advice to adapt and thrive. This will provide hands-on support to local areas to develop data-driven innovative strategies and connect local areas to relevant experts.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 08/10/2019 10:19:34 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4090 label Biography information for Mr Jonathan Lord