The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which was introduced in Parliament yesterday (Thursday 10 July), aims to empower local communities, protect small businesses, and boost local economies through a series of wide-ranging reforms.
Upward-Only Rent Review (UORR) clauses in commercial leases will be banned according to the plans, which the Government said would “help keep small businesses running and boost economies and job opportunities”.
The introduction of a Community Right to Buy scheme will also make it easier for communities to take ownership of pubs, shops and sporting grounds by giving residents the first chance to buy when these asserts are up for sale.
Right move
UKH chair Kate Nicholls said: “Unjust upward-only rent review clauses have been hitting hospitality businesses for years, making rents unnecessarily expensive.
“They have been punishing the high street and constraining investment, and it’s the right move for the Government to ban them completely.
“UKH has been calling for a ban for decades and I’m very pleased that it is now being implemented. This ban, alongside business rates reform and efforts to simplify licensing, are critical to cutting costs and red tape for businesses and allow hospitality to drive high street regeneration.”
Nicholls also welcomed news the bill did not include any future tourist tax in England, she continued: “The Government made clear to us that it has no plans to introduce a tax and it was critical they followed through on that promise. We expect that commitment to remain throughout the passage of this legislation.
“The Government should now take this pragmatic approach at the Budget and introduce measures to lower business rates, fix NICs and cut VAT for hospitality. Our businesses are being taxed out and we need to see action at the Budget that allows hospitality to create places where people want to live, work and invest.”
New dawn
The proposal also grants more powers to elected mayors, including greater control over local planning, licensing, and economic development.
In addition, a new Local Audit Office will also be set up in a bid to “boost transparency and rebuild trust in council spending”.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “We were elected on a promise of change, not just for a few areas cherry-picked by Whitehall spreadsheet, but for the entire country. It was never going to be easy to deliver the growth our country desperately needed with the inheritance we were dumped with.
“But that’s why we are opting to devolve not dictate and delivering a Bill that will rebalance decade old divides and empower communities. We’re ushering in a new dawn of regional power and bringing decision making to a local level so that no single street or household is left behind and every community thrives from our Plan for Change.”
