To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the Valuation Office's latest estimate is of the number of distribution warehouses’ category under Special Category Code 151 on the final 2026 Rating List which have a Rateable Value of above £500,000.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the Valuation Office's latest estimate is of the number of distribution warehouses’ category under Special Category Code 151 on the final 2026 Rating List which have a Rateable Value of above £500,000.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Effects of the business rates retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers and high-value multiplier, 26 November 2025, what is the equivalent cost to the £270 million estimate for the surcharge on distribution warehouses on the retail...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Effects of the business rates retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers and high-value multiplier, 26 November 2025, what is the equivalent cost to the £270 million estimate for the surcharge on distribution warehouses on the retail...

Warehouse development in Pilning

The lives of people in and around Pilning are blighted by giant warehouses being built under outdated 1950s planning consents, which lack modern safeguards. The Severnside Warehouse Action group has already presented a petition with over 2,500 signatures to South Gloucestershire council, and it now has over...

Warehouse development in Pilning

The lives of people in and around Pilning are blighted by giant warehouses being built under outdated 1950s planning consents, which lack modern safeguards. The Severnside Warehouse Action group has already presented a petition with over 2,500 signatures to South Gloucestershire council, and it now has over...

The lives of people in and around Pilning are blighted by giant warehouses being built under outdated 1950s planning consents, which lack modern safeguards. The Severnside Warehouse Action group has already presented a petition with over 2,500 signatures to South Gloucestershire council, and it now has over 3,500 signatures online....

The lives of people in and around Pilning are blighted by giant warehouses being built under outdated 1950s planning consents, which lack modern safeguards. The Severnside Warehouse Action group has already presented a petition with over 2,500 signatures to South Gloucestershire council, and it now has over 3,500 signatures online....

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has issued guidance on English language requirements for employment within warehouses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has issued guidance on English language requirements for employment within warehouses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what information his Department holds on the number of warehouse workers who cannot speak fluent English.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what information his Department holds on the number of warehouse workers who cannot speak fluent English.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of having non-fluent English speakers in warehouse jobs on health and safety.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of having non-fluent English speakers in warehouse jobs on health and safety.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to prevent warehouse and fulfilment jobs listed as not requiring English from being offered.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to prevent warehouse and fulfilment jobs listed as not requiring English from being offered.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to safeguard the right of trade union access to workplaces in the warehousing and logistics sector.

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to safeguard the right of trade union access to workplaces in the warehousing and logistics sector.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2026 to Question 103000 on Retail Trade: Business Rates, what is the evidential basis for the £100 million figure on large distribution warehouses, how many of those hereditaments are paying more, and what is the mean...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2026 to Question 103000 on Retail Trade: Business Rates, what is the evidential basis for the £100 million figure on large distribution warehouses, how many of those hereditaments are paying more, and what is the mean...

Lords statement on business rate reforms.

Lords statement on business rate reforms.

My Lords, here we are again, discussing yet another U-turn when the Government conclude, after public outrage at an announcement that they have made and after some tardy reflection, that perhaps they did not get matters right first time. What is offered here is not merely tardy but inadequate. It...

My Lords, here we are again, discussing yet another U-turn when the Government conclude, after public outrage at an announcement that they have made and after some tardy reflection, that perhaps they did not get matters right first time. What is offered here is not merely tardy but inadequate. It...

My Lords, I start with perhaps a modicum of welcome because the combined impact of the Budget and the business rates revaluation prior to this announcement, frankly, left the pub industry on the verge of a crisis, with up to 50% of pubs under the threat of closure. Some relief...

My Lords, I start with perhaps a modicum of welcome because the combined impact of the Budget and the business rates revaluation prior to this announcement, frankly, left the pub industry on the verge of a crisis, with up to 50% of pubs under the threat of closure. Some relief...

I am very grateful to the noble Baronesses, Lady Neville-Rolfe and Lady Kramer, for their comments and questions, and for their cautious welcome of what we have announced.

The noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, ignored what we announced in the Budget: the £4.3 billion of support for those experiencing increases in business...

I am very grateful to the noble Baronesses, Lady Neville-Rolfe and Lady Kramer, for their comments and questions, and for their cautious welcome of what we have announced.

The noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, ignored what we announced in the Budget: the £4.3 billion of support for those experiencing increases in business...

My Lords, is it not the case that the previous Government wrecked the economy and gave us Brexit, which reduced our ability to pay for public services? The Opposition now seem to be calling for greater public expenditure and tax cuts. It sounds as though they have found not just...

My Lords, is it not the case that the previous Government wrecked the economy and gave us Brexit, which reduced our ability to pay for public services? The Opposition now seem to be calling for greater public expenditure and tax cuts. It sounds as though they have found not just...

I very much agree with everything that my noble friend said. Among the long litany of the previous Government’s failures, their failure on growth was one of their most significant. We saw Brexit and the Liz Truss mini-Budget, and we know what business thought of that. We saw business investment...

I very much agree with everything that my noble friend said. Among the long litany of the previous Government’s failures, their failure on growth was one of their most significant. We saw Brexit and the Liz Truss mini-Budget, and we know what business thought of that. We saw business investment...

My Lords, it would be churlish not to welcome the measures—so far as they go—that the Chancellor has introduced. However, does the Minister accept that it is small family businesses—the hair salons, cafés and restaurants, among others, to which my noble friend on the Front Bench referred—that will be directly...

My Lords, it would be churlish not to welcome the measures—so far as they go—that the Chancellor has introduced. However, does the Minister accept that it is small family businesses—the hair salons, cafés and restaurants, among others, to which my noble friend on the Front Bench referred—that will be directly...

I respectfully say to the noble Baroness that she must take what has been announced this week in the round with what was announced in the Budget. We spent £4.3 billion supporting exactly the type of businesses the noble Baroness mentions. We have expanded the supporting small business scheme to...

I respectfully say to the noble Baroness that she must take what has been announced this week in the round with what was announced in the Budget. We spent £4.3 billion supporting exactly the type of businesses the noble Baroness mentions. We have expanded the supporting small business scheme to...

My Lords, I am sure the Minister will agree that one of the things that will drive growth is consumer confidence. It is very hard for consumers to be confident when they see their high streets putting up shutters and “closed” signs. The Minister also talked about changed behaviour and...

My Lords, I am sure the Minister will agree that one of the things that will drive growth is consumer confidence. It is very hard for consumers to be confident when they see their high streets putting up shutters and “closed” signs. The Minister also talked about changed behaviour and...

I agree with the noble Lord on the importance of consumer confidence—and six interest rate cuts since the election is very important to bolstering that consumer confidence. It is the fastest pace of interest rate cuts for 17 years, and the action we took in the Budget to further cut...

I agree with the noble Lord on the importance of consumer confidence—and six interest rate cuts since the election is very important to bolstering that consumer confidence. It is the fastest pace of interest rate cuts for 17 years, and the action we took in the Budget to further cut...