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| | | | 16/06/2014 | Drapers, Olivia Gagan - .Government responds to retail sector woes | | | | | Government issues response to concerns over UK retail sector | | | | | Drapers reports that the UK government has issued a response to concerns raised over the health of the UK retail sector.
A select committee report published in March questioned the effectiveness of government strategies for business rates and the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills’ (BIS) lack of a major industry retail strategy. Just 4% of BIS staff are allocated to retail.
The committee also said it was concerned that there was little transparency as to where the £2.3m allocated to the Mary Portas-led Portas Pilots scheme was being spent.
In a response published today (June 16), the government said:
-It has launched a discussion paper encouraging business ratepayers to give their views on how business rates can be improved. It is also 'considering the frequency of [rates] revaluations'.
-As of March 2014, the 27 Portas pilots have spent 54% of their grant funding, with a further 29% of funding committed to spend. It added: "Many pilots are still delivering their work programmes […] the government would rather that the pilots spent the money in the most effective way, than rush spending to meet an arbitrary deadline."
-In response to BIS’ lack of industry strategy for the retail sector: "Retail is a large and diverse sector with businesses of all sizes in fierce competition. Government therefore must avoid interventions that could have adverse consequences." |
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