My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this important debate. I declare my interest as a non-executive director of the Watches of Switzerland Group plc, a FTSE 250 company, and as founder of Team Domenica, a charity based in Brighton which owns and operates a pub—the North Star.
I see that the Deputy Speaker is sitting on the Woolsack. As my noble friend Lord Borwick pointed out to me, the Woolsack symbolises the economic foundation of the nation from the days when the wool trade was of huge importance to England. The fact that the Lord Speaker presides on this wool-stuffed cushion demonstrates that government is supported by business. But this Government are the most anti-business that I can remember. Perhaps because no one in the Cabinet has any experience of running a business, they simply have no empathy or understanding of its risks and challenges.
I do not understand how the Government can claim to be helping hospitality, small businesses and retail. Admittedly, in her most recent Budget, the Chancellor added a new lower rate multiplier but, at the same time, removed previous relief and massively revalued all the rates upwards, leaving pubs facing eye-watering increases. She also announced that business rate discounts would fall from 75% to 40% and that, from April, there would be no further discounts.
As Mark Wrigley, a publican in Manchester, wrote:
“Two years ago, we paid £9,000 in rates, which rose to £13,000 in 2025. But this year, it has more than doubled to £31,000. Within three years, it is expected to reach £42,000”.
He said that these figures are based on the so-called rateable value—a calculation that often seems plucked from thin air. He wrote that the pub’s rateable value
My Lords, it is a great honour to rise in this House for the first time. I would like to thank noble Lords across the House for their warm welcome.
I speak today as the noble Baroness, Lady Dacres of Lewisham, a title I hold with enormous pride. Lewisham is where I serve as the directly elected mayor, and I have proudly called it home for over 40 years. It is where community, resilience and ambition are part of everyday life—an area proud of its history of inclusion and as a borough of sanctuary. It is a place where you can eat your way around the world.
My journey here has been shaped by a strong work ethic, a belief in fairness and opportunity and a commitment to public service. I bring with me a background in science, computing and law, alongside lived experiences rooted in place, community leadership and local government.
It was a grant from Lewisham Council that allowed me to attend university and be the first in my family to do so, completing a degree in physical sciences with computing. I worked at the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
In later years I undertook a degree in law and was called to the Bar in 2006 while maintaining my IT career within investment banks and bringing up my son, the honourable Darnell Dacres, as a single parent. Together, these experiences have shaped who I am today.
I am deeply conscious that none of us arrives in this House alone. My paternal grandfather served in the RAF here, coming from Jamaica, during the Second World War. My parents came to this country as part of the Windrush generation, seeking opportunity and determined to build a better future. They raised me and my siblings with a deep respect for education, a strong sense of responsibility and the belief that leadership is shown through example. Those values continue to guide how I serve, and I know that they are values shared by noble Lords across this House.
My Lords, it is an absolute privilege to congratulate my noble friend Lady Dacres of Lewisham on an excellent maiden speech. I am sure all noble Lords will agree with me that she is going to be a real asset to this House. My noble friend was born in south London, her parents coming from the Windrush generation. She represents the best of our country. My noble friend brings to this House a wealth of experience in local government, serving first as a local councillor and then as a cabinet member, as Deputy Mayor of Lewisham and finally as the elected Mayor of Lewisham—a proud record. She is hugely respected and liked both in London and across the wider local government sector, as demonstrated by how, the day after taking her seat in the House of Lords, she was at Windsor Castle with her parents and son receiving an OBE from Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal. I know that my noble friend is already making friends across the House and that all noble Lords are looking forward to hearing more thoughtful contributions like the one she just made. We welcome her.
This is an important debate on an important sector—in fact, as a former general secretary of the trade union USDAW I am particularly well versed in the retail sector. I often try to avoid tribal politics in these discussions, because the issue is the most important thing. I have to say to the noble Baroness that she nearly pulled me into a debate of comparing records, but of course time does not allow me to forensically examine previous legislation from the other side, maybe during the 14 years that they were in office.
I look at the time we have been in office and I see a determination—a Government with values, of trying to do the right thing, not just for employees but for employers and growth, and with a vision for good. Therefore, when people criticise the legislation of a Government who have been in office for a relatively short time, I say, “There should be some humility about the trends started on your watch”. I say that not to be adversarial but to say that when you criticise a Government who have been in office for a short time, you have to be honest and self-reflective with regard to your own performance.
I start by welcoming today’s maiden speeches. One of the most civilised aspects of life in the Lords is the Long Table. I had the pleasure this week of dining with the triumvirate of the noble Baroness, Lady Dacres of Lewisham, and the noble Lords, Lord Forbes of Newcastle and Lord John of Southwark. I know that they and the noble Baroness, Lady Shah, will make an energetic and positive contribution, such as we have already heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Dacres.
My noble friend Lady Monckton of Dallington Forest started off with a stirring speech. She explained clearly how pubs are struggling and waiting desperately for the extra help that the Government have promised. The uncertainty of their position, as the Government dither, is deafening. One minute, Rachel Reeves is imposing a huge increase in their costs, notably on rates, through a botched revaluation. Then we have a series of briefings suggesting that not only pubs but hotels and others might benefit, only for their hopes to be dashed by the Chancellor yesterday in Davos—hardly a democratic gathering. I hope that the Minister will have the grace to share the Treasury’s thinking with us. Parliament is paramount, however much the leadership might like to think differently.
I am speaking today because my neighbour, who owns a London pub, thinks that he will become bankrupt and have to move abroad unless substantial changes are made on rates. He has a pub with a hostel—not a smart hotel but a lodge, in the bureaucratic vernacular. He is in the category where rateable values alone will rise by 70% rather than 30%. Can the Minister look into this unfairness? Add to this the quadruple whammy of: first, the increase in NICs; secondly, the steep rises in the national minimum wage, particularly for young people; thirdly, IHT on family businesses that will still kill many of them; and, fourthly, the new cost of the Employment Rights Act. Multiply that across the economy and you have a crisis, so it is no surprise that thousands of pubs are closing.
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Monckton for securing this important and timely debate today and wish her every success and good luck with her pub venture. She, like others, will need some luck when being involved with the hospitality industry.
I declare my interests as set out in the register, in particular my financial interest as the chairman of the Association of Conservative Clubs—a role that I have undertaken since I stepped down as the CEO last year. For the record, I have worked for the association my entire working life, having joined the team some 39 years ago. I congratulate the four new Members of your Lordships’ House who are making their maiden speeches in this debate. I sincerely wish them well and look forward to hearing their future contributions.
We are all well aware that the hospitality industry is facing a crisis worse than it has ever seen—astonishingly, even worse than it experienced during the Covid pandemic and lockdown. We know this as there are daily articles in the press and coverage in the media about the plight of pubs and, in particular, the unfair rating increases that are set to cripple many establishments, with eye-watering multipliers which, for many, will be unsustainable over the next three years. Putting to one side the increase in wages, which affects all employers, and food inflation and other costs, the proposed increases to business rates have been seen as the final nail in the coffin. I am therefore pleased that noises from His Majesty’s Treasury indicate that there may be some re-examination of this issue, with the prospect of some sensible arithmetic being applied.
My concern, however, is that this appears to be directed towards the plight of pubs alone, and I would like to make a case for the circa 3,000 private members’ social clubs. I do not mean just the Conservative clubs that I know so well, but the working men’s clubs, the Royal British Legions, miners’ welfare institutes, naval and Air Force clubs, railway clubs, Liberal and Labour clubs—indeed, all the social clubs that make up such a significant part of so many people’s lives. These clubs are not run for profit or underwritten by a hedge fund or private equity firm, as so many pub companies are, but managed by volunteer officers and committees. Some 12,000 people are employed within the clubs.
My Lords, it is the tradition in your Lordships’ House that maiden speeches are heard in silence, originally as a mark of respect for the recently deceased father of the hereditary Peer being introduced. This does not apply in my circumstances today, obviously, but I did lose my father six months ago, and I am profoundly sorry that he is not here to witness my first contribution in this place.
I first wish to express my thanks and gratitude to all Members across the House for the warmth of their welcome, and extend this to the staff, particularly Black Rod, the Clerk of the Parliaments, the doorkeepers, security guards, clerks, catering staff and all those who sustain the life of this remarkable institution. Your support has made these first few days far less daunting than they might otherwise have been.
I would like to thank my sponsors, who represent important milestones in my life. I first met the noble Baroness, Lady Armstrong of Hill Top, at the age of 15, when, as my constituency MP, she came to speak in an assembly at Wolsingham comprehensive school. It was she who sparked my interest in politics generally and Labour values specifically, and she has been a steadfast mentor and friend for the past 35 years. The noble Baroness, Lady Blake, and I were contemporaries as leaders of our respective great northern cities, Leeds and Newcastle, building the case together for investment in the north through our collaboration in the northern powerhouse partnership, as co-founders of Transport for the North, and participating actively—in fact, both chairing—Core Cities UK.
Growing up in rural County Durham, my post-school employment options were limited. I, like many others, found my first job in the hospitality sector. In 1992, I was paid £3 an hour to work in a fast food restaurant. I had a zero-hours contract, no minimum wage, no predictable income, no sick leave or holiday pay entitlement, and no trade union or pension rights. Thankfully, for retail and hospitality workers these days, successive Labour Governments, including this one, have made progressive changes to employment legislation, bringing in more protections. But I still have my name badge from those days, as a reminder that I am older than many of my rights.
My Lords, it is a great honour to follow the noble Lord, Lord Forbes of Newcastle, and to welcome him to your Lordships’ House. I also extend a welcome to other noble Lords making their maiden speeches today.
I thank my friend, the noble Lord, Lord Forbes, for his excellent maiden speech. He made some immensely wise comments that superbly illustrate his capacity for, and commitment to, the work that he will undertake in this place. His mention of the values that have shaped his life are those that we should all aspire to and live out in our collective endeavours in this House. His calling our attention to the importance of inclusion is particularly vital.
The noble Lord’s years of dedicated service to local government and his commitment to creating thriving communities will greatly benefit this House. His lived experience, coupled with his kind heart, fierce mind and strong spirit, underpins his integrity, determination and resolve to seek the welfare of people and communities, especially those in deprivation. A keen listener and one who is ready to learn, he is well equipped for his new role in your Lordships’ House. I wish him well and look forward to working with him.
I turn to the subject of this debate. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Monckton of Dallington Forest, for bringing it to your Lordships’ House. I am aware that, with the noble Lord’s contribution, noble Lords are getting a double dip of north-east input, but I hope this adds value.
Just yesterday, two chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants in Newcastle and Northumberland warned of major hospitality job losses caused by higher tax bills. Cal Byerley and Kenny Atkinson said that many businesses were on their last legs. For some hospitality venues in Newcastle, it is too late, with popular and long-standing venues having closed their doors permanently even in recent weeks. The North East Chamber of Commerce reports that many businesses used the temporary reliefs during Covid and subsequent energy crisis support to cover fixed costs rather than to invest, meaning that resilience remains thin.
My Lords, I join all noble Lords in thanking my noble friend for this debate. I look forward to the remaining maiden speeches and congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Dacres of Lewisham, and the noble Lord, Lord Forbes, on their excellent contributions to today’s debate. I also refer noble Lords to my interest in the register as a businesswoman for over four decades.
I suspect that, like me, many noble Lords over the past 14 to 15 months have met and spoken with many businesses, a proportionately large number of them from the retail and hospitality sector. According to the House of Lords Library, the number of businesses in hospitality in 2025 was around 176,685. What does the Minister believe the number will be this time next year? Hospitality is the seventh largest of the main sectors and almost all of hospitality—99.6%—is made up of SMEs. Some 7% of all jobs in the UK in 2025 were in this sector. What does the Minister think that number will be this time next year?
Most businesses are started by local people to serve local communities, creating economic wealth and job creation in those communities. Hospitality usually sits in the centre of those communities. They do not just have economic impacts; as other noble Lords have said, their presences brings people together. Hotels help bring in tourism, along with pubs, cafés, restaurants, et cetera. Social interactions bring an abundance of good health and well-being benefits. But we have seen a decline over the past 25 years in the number of pubs, going from 60,800 in 2000 to 45,000 in 2024, as stated by the British Beer & Pub Association.
Sadly, we have seen many of our industries leave our shores; that surely cannot be good for our long-term desire to be a resilient country that can withstand the sort of global shocks that are increasingly impacting on our everyday cost of living. Instead of helping to support these incredibly important sectors, the attack on small and medium-sized businesses has been blood-curdling. I remind noble Lords that most businesses are SMEs—local people investing their hard-earned money into enterprises that very often will take quite a few years to show a return on their investment.
5:06 pm
20 of 58 shown
his annual rent is £70,000.
“So the RV is 40 per cent higher than the rent … And the madness gets worse. When we compare our RV to other pubs and bars on our street, some of them pay much less, while one of them has seen its RV soar from £50,000 to a frankly ludicrous £165,000”.
And this is being replicated across the country.
Pubs are facing an average tax rise of 76%, while hotels’ tax bills are going up by 115%. Utility costs have risen by 57% in the last five years. Ed Miliband’s energy policies have not helped, although perhaps he might feel that, with every pub that closes, we are getting closer to net zero.
One pub a day closed last year. Just think for a moment what this means for rural communities, for employment and for the social fabric of our country. When a pub shuts, a small part of England dies. Particularly in rural England, local pubs are vital to combat loneliness and social isolation. They are places that welcome everybody: places where you belong as soon as you walk in the door; places where you do not need to be invited to visit; places which are, literally, home from home for many.
If the Prime Minister’s local pub, the Pineapple, in north London closed, he could easily find somewhere else to slake his thirst, drown his sorrows and contemplate his U-turns. In rural villages, which have already seen shops and post offices close, there would be nowhere else to go. The Government’s proposed intensification of the drink-driving laws is clearly designed to stop these locals getting into the car and going to the next village—if, indeed, the pub there remains open.
The Chancellor is effectively destroying pubs, as much as if it were her very purpose. An estimated 89,000 jobs were lost in the hospitality sector after her first Budget. UKHospitality predicts that a further 100,000 jobs are at risk after the November Budget. This week, we learned that, in the month after that Budget, the number of staff on payrolls fell by more than 42,000—the biggest fall in the number of workers since the pandemic. The lowering of the NI employer threshold seems to have been designed to kill off starter jobs which are at the heart of the hospitality and retail industries.
Flexible working is key in both hospitality and retail. As Sam Carlisle, a rural restaurateur, eloquently put it:
“These are jobs that fit around lives”.
If zero-hours contracts are abolished under the Employment Rights Act, as planned, hospitality businesses might as well close altogether. I know from my own experience at the North Star that you must monitor rotas minutely.
Retail and hospitality are significant and huge players in the economy. These sectors are less impacted by AI and should therefore be stimulated to grow and expand. This is where the human jobs of the future will be, and fiscal policy should be supporting them, not increasing the burden. When people work, their well-being tends to get better; getting them into work will reduce the burden of benefits and reduce the strain on our healthcare system in treating people for depression. When Team Domenica advertised for jobs for our pub, for every job we advertised, we got over 200 applications. What does that tell you?
The Government’s proposal for extending licensing hours is tokenistic: many pubs already close two days a week and are closing earlier in the evenings as they can no longer afford the staff costs. Hospitality employs people from every socioeconomic background, in towns and villages all over the country. The impact of so many policies all at once is confusing and devastating. Put simply, it means that pubs will simply not be able to afford to employ the people who need the job most.
Tom Kerridge, the chef and restaurateur, has gone on record about the 148% surge in costs on one of his establishments. I imagine he now has buyer’s remorse, having been vocal about voting for the Labour Party in the last election—or indeed anyone else who took Keir Starmer at his word when, as leader of the Opposition, he declared:
“my Labour Party is determined … to breathe life back into our high streets”.
He said:
“Small businesses are the beating heart of our economy”.
Instead, they are now on life support.
The are rumours of a U-turn on pubs, but nothing for hotels and restaurants. The hospitality sector must be looked at as a whole. A friend of mine who owns and runs three successful hotels and was planning to start a fourth has changed her mind. Instead, she is having to make redundancies in her existing portfolio and curtail all capital investment. Without such investment, there is no growth. The employer national insurance changes alone cost her £0.5 million on her bottom line.
Hotels are facing a dual tax hike. On top of business rates, there is now going to be an overnight visitor levy, which Labour is allowing mayors to impose. The steep rise in wage costs, national insurance and other regulatory costs means that the 5p discount to the business rates multiplier announced in the Budget is not sufficient to ease these pressures. What is needed is the full 20p discount permitted in legislation.
A new surcharge is being applied to higher-value premises with rateable values above £0.5 million. This is hitting high street shops, supermarkets, hotels and sports clubs. Twice as many retail premises are being hit compared to the online warehouses, which this was supposedly meant for. In its 2024 election manifesto, Labour promised it would
“level the playing field between the high street and online giants, better incentivise investment, tackle empty properties and support entrepreneurship”.
I think that should now win the Booker Prize for fiction.
Our local town of Heathfield in East Sussex has a charming café, the Pink Cabbage Co, which is run by an energetic, inspirational, entrepreneurial lady called Lucy Howlett. She employs 16 people, all local. The café is always full, the food is delicious and it is an important part of the community. She told me that, after last November’s Budget, having spent months mitigating as much as she could from the previous Budget, she lay on the floor and cried. At the end of that month, having paid all her bills, she had £23. She decided to do tapas nights. Why tapas? Because the food can go on one platter and you can prepare it beforehand, so you need to employ fewer staff. I remember the days when being an entrepreneur meant that you grew your business, you employed more people and you were an important contributor to the economy, not that you had to think of creative ways to lose your employees.
I have spoken previously about Heathfield Ironmongers, which closed after 100 years of trading. Since then, several other businesses in our two-street town have closed their doors. We now have seven charity shops, and there have also suddenly sprung up a Turkish barber and two Vietnamese nail salons—cash only. How can they afford to operate when the traditional English shops have had to close? I wonder.
The Government claim to want more young people in work, but their policies have made it harder for them to find jobs. It is often said that one needs to be cruel to be kind, but the Government’s policies on the minimum wage are kind to be cruel. Subsidising job opportunities and creating state-funded work placements, as the Government are suggesting, is not the answer. Enabling the private sector to employ more people by removing a punitive tax burden is the sustainable way forward.
This Government have said they want long-term growth, but instead, because of the last two Budgets, retailers and hospitality owners are facing harsh financial choices, forcing them to pull back on investment when they should be focusing on growing their businesses and creating job opportunities.
Napoleon, in an ill-judged sneer, described England as a nation of shopkeepers, implying that the English were too materialistic to be focused on profit. The Woolsack signifies a nation driven by trade and commerce, but where are we now? We are a nation of charity shops, boarded-up high streets and a plethora of fake and illegal Harry Potter shops and so-called British tourist shops, which are creeping from Trafalgar Square down Whitehall, as I am sure many noble Lords will have noticed. It is desperately sad that Nelson, on his column after his great victories over Napoleon, should have to witness the state-promoted decline of our nation’s proud history as shopkeepers. I beg to move.
Before turning to the substance of today’s debate, I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to Black Rod and the Garter Principal King of Arms. I am also grateful to my noble friends Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Lady Kennedy of Cradley for their support and friendship. I thank my noble friends Lady Smith of Basildon, Lord Collins of Highbury and Lady Wheeler for their support as I join this House. I also thank the staff of the House of Lords and the doorkeepers for their professionalism, guidance and—yes—directions.
I would also like to thank my noble friends for their care and support of my guests on the day of my introduction. My family spanned four generations and my guests included people who have played a significant role in my life, including my former primary school teacher, Tom Deveson, and my law degree lecturer, Professor Vick Krishnan. Their presence was a powerful reminder of the lasting impact of education, encouragement and daring to dream.
These experiences bring me to the subject of today’s debate and the positive impact that the Government’s policies are having on retail and hospitality, when shaped with local communities in mind.
In Lewisham and across the country, I know that retail and hospitality are central to the vitality of our high streets. Independent cafés, restaurants, market traders and shops provide jobs, support local supply chains and create welcoming social spaces. They are often the first step into employment for young people and an important source of flexible work.
I have seen how targeted support, town centre investment and measures that boost footfall can make a real difference. In Lewisham, regeneration, improved public spaces and new housing have already brought, and will continue to bring, more people into our high streets, helping local businesses to grow, employ local people and invest with confidence.
When policy is well designed, with local communities empowered to make decisions, our retailers and hospitality businesses do not just survive; they thrive.
Positive interventions strengthen local economies, sustain livelihoods and help to ensure that high streets remain vibrant and resilient.
Retail and hospitality succeed when policy recognises their role, not only as economic drivers but as anchors of community life. My experience in Lewisham shows what is possible when government works in partnership with local leadership and local enterprise, and when the voices of communities are heard.
As I take my place and my duties in this House, I do so with a deep sense of responsibility, determination and hope. I look forward to contributing constructively to our work, informed by lived experience, grounded in community and guided by the desire to improve lives.
My Lords, I thank you.
More positively, I said that I know the retail sector, and I know that any legislation that comes in takes time to bed in and that the full impact of legislation is seen over time. I want to draw attention to two issues that make a difference and which apply to these two sectors.
The Employment Rights Act, which was rightly scrutinised in this House, has gone through, and history will judge its impact over a period of time. The other one that I draw attention to, although there are many over the lifespan of many Labour Governments, is the introduction of the national minimum wage in 1998. I was a member of the Low Pay Commission for 11 years and took evidence from employers, employees, economists and a whole range of interested groups. I remember at its introduction how the critics—by the way, some of them in the trade union movement—and many employers declared that this was the end of the world, that to lift people out of a low wage with a minimum floor was risky. That was 1998; it is now 2026, and no Government would even think about replacing that. So my cautious note to the critics on any period of legislation is: give it time but also have a period of self-reflection.
The reason why coming into the House is important to me is that I want to be a part of a Government who have values at the core and who want to do the right thing by those at the bottom and not just those who can look after themselves at the top. I have seen this in evidence. Will we get things wrong? Of course we will, but who does not? For me it is about how the passion and the values of this party will sustain it going forward.
I just want to make reference to the Low Pay Commission again for this reason. I represented USDAW members in many of the large supermarkets, and we had good relationships with most of the big companies. But not all employers are equal. The invention of good legislation is a crucial part of our responsibility. If we are about anything, it has to be about supporting those who are the most disadvantaged, the most vulnerable and the most insecure. I have to say that in these two sectors, many people fall into that category. It succeeded because we were prepared to take a few risks and to compromise.
I do not want to just throw it back to the other side, but if it going to lead with its chin, let it be accepted that pubs were in decline under the watch of the previous Government. It is not something that this party was responsible for when we started.
The position will erode further with the introduction of a lower drink-drive limit. It will strike a hammer blow to pubs in rural areas—look at Scotland. Like so much modern regulation, it is not necessary. Those who, like me, take care to stay below the limit will stop going to the pub and the reckless will continue to drink and drive. The Government are right to say that they will act on rates, but it is complex. I am not convinced that Treasury Ministers have ever taken the time to understand what they have done.
What is clear is that growth is going backwards, which brings me on to hospitality more broadly. It is a huge industry suffering from that quadruple whammy and from tourist uncertainty, not helped by the failure to tackle street crime. Magnets for tourism such as music venues and stately homes are also in peril. The visitor levy on hotels is a threat to a slowing sector that is already facing a high tax burden and mushrooming construction costs. There is also another long-term hit: the impact of slimming drugs, reducing demand in restaurants and for alcoholic drinks. I have a relative who manages a vodka start-up. Assailed by national insurance, rates and a tougher economic backdrop, he is now working with a partner in the US, which they see as a more business-friendly country, even with today’s rolling Trump news.
Finally, I turn to retail. This is a highly productive sector. But it already shoulders a disproportionate tax burden: 7.4% of all business taxes, or £33 billion a year, according to the BRC. As well as rates, there are more costs in the pipeline on packaging and recycling. Employment is falling in retail, as it is in hospitality. The Government should be wary of increasing the burden there. The sector saw the promised rates reform as a possible driver of growth, only to be gravely disappointed.
The truth is that this Government have so far made a mess of the economy. Taxes, spending and now inflation are up, while growth, productivity and employment are sluggish. I believe that this partly reflects the Government’s ignorance of business, particularly less elite businesses such as retail and hospitality, as was highlighted by my noble friend. The noble Lord, Lord Timpson, is an honourable exception, as is the noble Lord, Lord Leong, who is winding today. A useful new year’s resolution would be for the Prime Minister to seek their counsel as he frames his overdue U-turn on rates.
So often, we hear how important pubs are to their communities, which is true, but every one of the members’ social clubs that I have mentioned is a community in itself. They are part of the fabric of many people’s lives, and essential to the social well-being of members, as well as to the furtherance of the objects for which the clubs were formed. As such, I ask the Minister to feed back to the Treasury team that any help or assistance that may be on the way to help pubs should be extended to help clubs in the same way, for the same reasons, and for the same outcome—in other words, a level playing field.
The society which socialises together is a stronger society, and our pubs, clubs, bars, restaurants and hotels put that into practice every day. As I said in my maiden speech, 10 years ago, virtual friends can never be the same as actual friends. Let us do everything we can to ensure that our clubs, pubs and all the places where we socialise remain, so that we can continue to meet friends and make friends in the years ahead.
I welcome this Government’s recognition of the hospitality sector’s importance and the steps already taken to stabilise and support it. Expansion of the small business support scheme, and transitional business rates relief, are not abstract economic interventions; they are lifelines for the pubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels and other venues that give our communities their heartbeat. But hospitality also offers us a wider metaphor for the kind of economy we want to build. No Government can create a good society through policy or programme alone. By supporting businesses to grow, and by encouraging them in turn to create more and better jobs, we can offer opportunity, hope and a sense of belonging for future generations.
I belong to Newcastle. I am immensely proud to include the name of my home city in my title. At the time of my retirement from local politics, I was the second-longest serving leader of the council, second only to Lord Beecham—I imagine that being second to Lord Beecham is something that many Members of this House have experienced in previous years. I was also its first LGBT leader. I worked hard to create a culture of no outsiders, a place where everyone is valued for who they are and the talents they offer. But I am concerned about the trend towards exclusion, rather than inclusion, that I witnessed during my 22 years in elected politics.
At various times in our history, some people have been othered and blamed for the perceived ills of all. Jews, Muslims, LGBT people, asylum seekers, single parents and many others have been, and continue to be, denigrated and dehumanised. We must be staunch in our opposition to the politics of grievance: they are divisive, corrosive and diminishing of all of us. There is much hatred in this world, but the answer to this is not more hate; it is the opposite. It is love; love for our families, our friends, our neighbours, our communities and our country. Beautiful and gloriously imperfect though we may be, we always have so much more in common that unites us rather than divides us.
I believe that the mark of future success of this nation is not the riches of a few but the fortunes of the many. I believe that opportunity should be universal and hard work rewarded, and that the purpose of economic growth is to spread wealth, as well as generate it. It is therefore with the spirit of ambitious and generous collaboration, with curiousness about how we can change things for the better, and with a fundamental belief in the dignity and equal value of all, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, that I approach my service to your Lordships’ House.
On the upside, in Newcastle city centre, bus reform and subsidised young person fares have increased evening and weekend footfall, helping the night-time economy, which in Newcastle is rather lively. Regeneration investments make the city a more attractive visitor destination, which supports hospitality and retail spending. Information given to me by the North East Chamber of Commerce reports that the visitor economy supports around 63,000 jobs and contributes over £6.6 billion to the regional economy, representing 8% to 11% of regional GDP.
The Government’s announcement today of the investment in cultural organisations is therefore welcome in its potential to boost the broader economic landscape. Similarly, the overnight visitor levy could be a tool to invest in communities and support better jobs. Time will tell. Will the Minister monitor its impact?
In Northumberland, co-ordinated tourism strategies promote heritage assets such as Alnwick Castle and the coastal trail. This draws millions of visitors annually, boosting accommodation, cafés and retailers in towns such as Bamburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed. However, these gains are strongly seasonal. A café might thrive in August but struggle in January, even as fixed costs remain year round. Government policies, through business rates, labour regulation and demand-side investment, exert powerful and concrete effects on retail and hospitality in Newcastle and Northumberland.
An underlying theme is what policy does at a granular level to communities and their ability to thrive in the short, medium and longer term—a point that the noble Baroness made so eloquently in her opening speech. The noble Lord, Lord Forbes, and I have in common that we both grew up in the north-east, as well as the year of our birth, 1973—the year Sunderland won the FA Cup. In that regard, we will both have similar memories of the impact of the decline of industry on communities, and the knock-on effect of that on the economic prosperity of the region and on people, the effects of which are long-standing and intergenerational.
The challenge now, which is also an opportunity, is not only to craft a policy environment that balances cost pressures with sustainable demand and opportunity for growth but to truly set forth a long-term vision that enables the welfare and flourishing of people and communities—not driven by fear and anxiety, but drawn by confidence, hope and economic sustainability.
There was a time when we prided ourselves on being world leaders in enterprise. My grandfather started his manufacturing business in 1952 and my father in 1967. They illustrated to us how this great country enabled anybody and everybody to be socially and economically upwardly mobile, part of the economic growth of the nation and to give back to the community. I started my first business in 1980. A brilliant example is the Ugandan-Asian community, who came as refugees from Uganda. They contributed so much to my city, Leicester, even though the then Labour council had advertised for them not to come.
Given the impact of the national insurance hike from 13.8% to 15%, the increase in the minimum wage in April, the level at which employers will have to pay NI going from £9,000 to £5,000, the fact that many businesses in retail and hospitality are facing revaluations, which will see huge increases in their business rates, and the levels of crime and attacks on these sectors, meaning an increase to the costs of insurance, property protection and other added costs, how will the Government provide support to businesses that are already reeling from sluggish growth? Can the Minister tell the House how many job vacancies have been filled with the Pub is the Hub initiative? Does he seriously believe that £1.5 million of support for hospitality is sufficient? What has the response been from the hospitality sector?
Finally, if the Government are serious about helping hospitality, what can they do to help reduce its energy costs? To help the Minister, if the Government are serious about climate change, reducing carbon emissions and, above all, supporting the continued existence of the hospitality sector, maybe, instead of providing advice on how to get to net-zero carbon emissions, the Government could provide products at zero cost, or at hugely subsidised costs.