Liberal Democrats Call for Level Playing Field for Small Shops
05 Mar 2007
The Liberal Democrats have pledged their support for local shops against anti- competitive supermarket competition.
New Liberal Democrat policy has been agreed aimed at halting the decline of independent traders in town centres. The policy calls for the appointment of an independent retail regulator with the following remit:
• tackling abuse of market power by big retailers;
• making it simpler for local authorities to judge planning applications for large stores solely on their merits rather than being influenced by the cost of possible appeals;
• reducing the tax burden on small retailers.
The new policies were announced at their Spring Conference in Harrogate. Dan Rogerson, Local Government Spokesperson, who spoke at ACS’ fringe event at the Liberal Democrat party conference in September, said: “Local people too often feel they have no control over the communities they live in. By setting local government free we will allow town halls greater powers to protect small traders from the overbearing economic power of supermarkets.
“Large supermarkets can afford to squeeze local competition by undercutting prices, only to raise them again when the small shops are forced to close. With more and more town centres turning into identikit clones of each other, people must be given more powers to shape their communities.”
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “I am pleased that the Liberal Democrats have pledged their support for local shops and the communities that they serve. ACS is currently arguing for the Competition Commission to tackle superstore dominance, and we are now seeing more and more support of our case for a fairer grocery market.”
Contact:
Rachel Lawson Communications Co-ordinator
01252 515001
Michael Saxton/ Grappa PR
Julie Kirby 020 7 4864448
Notes:
1. ACS is the convenience store champion, helping local shops thrive through lobbying, insight, information and commercial services.
2. The original Liberal Democrat press release can be found at http://www.libdems.org.uk/news/communities-must-be-given-powers-to-tackle-supermarkets-rogerson.12111.html.
New Liberal Democrat policy has been agreed aimed at halting the decline of independent traders in town centres. The policy calls for the appointment of an independent retail regulator with the following remit:
• tackling abuse of market power by big retailers;
• making it simpler for local authorities to judge planning applications for large stores solely on their merits rather than being influenced by the cost of possible appeals;
• reducing the tax burden on small retailers.
The new policies were announced at their Spring Conference in Harrogate. Dan Rogerson, Local Government Spokesperson, who spoke at ACS’ fringe event at the Liberal Democrat party conference in September, said: “Local people too often feel they have no control over the communities they live in. By setting local government free we will allow town halls greater powers to protect small traders from the overbearing economic power of supermarkets.
“Large supermarkets can afford to squeeze local competition by undercutting prices, only to raise them again when the small shops are forced to close. With more and more town centres turning into identikit clones of each other, people must be given more powers to shape their communities.”
ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “I am pleased that the Liberal Democrats have pledged their support for local shops and the communities that they serve. ACS is currently arguing for the Competition Commission to tackle superstore dominance, and we are now seeing more and more support of our case for a fairer grocery market.”
Contact:
Rachel Lawson Communications Co-ordinator
01252 515001
Michael Saxton/ Grappa PR
Julie Kirby 020 7 4864448
Notes:
1. ACS is the convenience store champion, helping local shops thrive through lobbying, insight, information and commercial services.
2. The original Liberal Democrat press release can be found at http://www.libdems.org.uk/news/communities-must-be-given-powers-to-tackle-supermarkets-rogerson.12111.html.