Victoria Collins MP holds debate in parliament Impact of the Budget on our High Streets

After months of campaigning to protect local businesses in Harpenden & Berkhamsted from the damaging impacts of the government’s Autumn Budget, Victoria Collins, MP for Harpenden & Berkhamsted, last week (on 23 January) furthered these calls by securing a Parliamentary debate on the impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on high street businesses.

In this debate, she urged the government to take immediate action to protect businesses at the heart of the local community, by rethinking their changes to National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and business rates. 

She raised just how devastating inaction could be for Hertfordshire businesses like Lussmans, Temptation Gifts, Chiltern Opticians, the Robin Hood pub, Grace & Son, Tabure and many more, who are anticipating added costs and pressures from the government’s plans.

Since last year’s Autumn Budget, Victoria has been staunchly defending the interests of local businesses in Harpenden & Berkhamsted in the face of changes announced by the government. And last Thursday (23 January), she continued this campaign by holding a debate on the impact of the Budget on high street businesses in Parliament.

In her debate, Victoria highlighted the sheer volume of correspondence she has received from businesses at the heart of the local economy and community, particularly since she launched her survey asking for their inputs ahead of the debate, who are terrified about the impact the Budget will have for them. 

These are businesses that are already under huge pressures from increased input costs, a cost-of-living crisis, and worries about consumer confidence from people preempting these changes. And now they’ll be hit by major cost hikes: a combination of an increase to NICs, to the minimum wage, and a cut in business rates relief (for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector) that may be too much to handle.

That’s why Victoria held this debate: to give a voice to the many local businesses at risk from these changes. Whether that’s Lussmans, Temptation Gifts, Chiltern Opticians, the Robin Hood pub, Grace & Son, Tabure and many more - these are just a small portion of those that responded to Victoria’s survey ahead of the debate, sharing worries about added costs Budget measures will bring.

As a result, Victoria and her Liberal Democrat colleagues have been strongly urging the government to rethink their NICs hike for all businesses, with Victoria last week restating the urgency of this to the government. And at the very least, she called for mitigations to minimise the impacts on local businesses, such as a lower NICs rate for earnings between £5,000 and £9,100. 

Similarly, she continued her party’s calls for the government to finally reform the broken business rates system limiting businesses’ growth and investment. She called for a Commercial Landowner Levy to replace this, and for the government to deliver the maximum discount for hospitality and high street businesses that their proposals permit.

Furthermore, several family businesses had written to Victoria to highlight the negative impact of proposed changes to inheritance tax which could ultimately lead to businesses being pulled apart. Victoria called on the government to carry out an impact analysis on these issues. 

Victoria remains determined to fight the corner of the many fantastic small businesses in Harpenden & Berkhamsted, through every means that she can. And she’ll keep pushing the government to give them the support they so vitally need, rather than the huge blows promised by this Budget.

Speaking in the debate, Victoria said:

“Businesses shared with me that after facing the impact of Brexit, closures during covid, cuts to local infrastructure following Conservative cuts to local government and the soaring costs from the cost of living crisis, the combination of measures in the autumn Budget, which includes the rise in national insurance contributions, the change in business rates that was just mentioned and the increase in the minimum wage, as well as proposed changes that could impact family businesses, means that they are now reaching crisis point.”

And:

“Chiltern Opticians in Tring highlights the barriers that small businesses face in hiring staff. It says that it is very different for big corporations, which have large human resources teams to handle staffing issues, and that “we just don’t have the budget for it”.

“These are resilient businesses—or they have been—and they want to continue to build those businesses and to employ local people. Indeed, I see their pride in supporting local staff, often calling them “family”. Jordan from G. Grace & Son in Tring says:

““We are more like a community centre at times, providing essential services to the community.”

“In that, I hear my mum’s voice who so often did the same. Our pubs, restaurants and cafés in Harpenden and Berkhamsted cover 197 hospitality venues that employ more than 6,000 people and generate nearly £143 million in revenue. These businesses are the backbone of our economy and community.

“The Government say that they are protecting small businesses, but these are the small businesses of which they talk.”

Victoria also made the following calls on the government:

“Therefore, when it comes to national insurance contributions, will the Government consider mitigations to support the local businesses on our high streets? These could include a lower rate of NICs for earnings of between £5,000 and the £9,100 threshold, or a lower rate for lower earning taxpayers who work part time—perhaps fewer than 20 hours per week. As we have heard from many local businesses, this would help get more people working and support our local economy. At the very least, will the Government consider delaying implementation to give businesses time to adjust and consider their own mitigation?”

And:

“Will the Government consider abolishing the broken business rates system and replacing it with a commercial landowner levy? Furthermore, will the Government consider delivering the maximum discount allowed by the Budget to support hospitality or smaller high street businesses?”