Oral Answers to Questions

Dan Aldridge Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

8. What fiscal steps he is taking to support high streets and town centres.

[Dan Aldridge (Weston-super-Mare) (Lab)]

21. What fiscal steps he is taking to support high streets and town centres.

[Matt Turmaine (Watford) (Lab)]

23. What fiscal steps he is taking to support high streets and town centres.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Murray]

I am very glad to hear that more than a thousand retail, hospitality and leisure properties in Redbridge may benefit from a real-terms freeze in their business rates bills, giving them real breathing space over the next two years. We are also helping high street businesses through our new high streets strategy, which was published at the Budget, providing £210 million to transform derelict buildings into the new anchors of our high streets across the country.

[Dan Aldridge]

The changes to business rates announced in last week’s Budget will provide some much-needed breathing space for many businesses in Weston-super-Mare, Worle and the villages. However, thriving high streets and coastal communities such as mine depend on businesses being able to take on new staff, particularly local young people. At a roundtable I held with small businesses last week, the cost and difficulty of employing young people were raised repeatedly as a major concern. What more can the Treasury do to ease those financial pressures, and will the Minister provide more information about the new high streets strategy and how the Treasury will ensure that vision is matched with funding?

[James Murray]

The Government want to support businesses in Weston-super-Mare and across the country to take on young people in particular, which is why our youth jobs grant offers businesses £3,000 for every young person they hire aged 18 to 24 who has been on universal credit and looking for work for six months. Businesses also benefit from targeted employer national insurance contribution reliefs for young people, meaning that employers pay no employer NICs on earnings up to just over £50,000 for employees up to the age of 21 and for apprentices under 25—a saving of nearly £7,000 per eligible employee per year.