The Conservative Party have released their full manifesto ahead of the 2015 General Election, setting out their proposals to cut tax for employees on minimum wage and take quick action on business rates.
Regarding business rates, the Conservative Manifesto states that they will deliver a review of the rate by the end of 2015 and implement changes in time for the 2017 revaluation; this is earlier than the proposed review timetable.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We welcome the urgency behind the delivery of the review into business rates. We are working with the Treasury to make sure the outcome of the review incentivises investment, simplifies the rating system and supports high streets.”
The Conservatives also pledged that employees who are paid the National Minimum Wage and work up to 30 hours a week will not pay Income Tax on what they earn. This law would be applied from the first Budget after the election and the Personal Allowance threshold would be altered to rise in line with the National Minimum Wage. The party also suggests that it would like to see an increase in the National Minimum Wage to place it over £8 an hour by end of the decade.
“This is good news for local shop employees who will see more money in their pockets at the end of each week” continued Mr Lowman.
Additionally, in their manifesto, the Conservatives pledged to overhaul police cautions which are often used for shop theft offences. They would also make sobriety orders available to all English and Welsh courts, which will be enforced by alcohol monitoring tags.
Mr Lowman added: “Crime is a key issue for retailers; recent ACS research shows that over half of convenience stores have to deal with verbal or physical abuse, while one in five have seen an increase in theft from their store over the last year. We welcome new ideas for tackling crime and dealing with offenders, and we will work with the next Government on effective measures to cut crime and re-offending.”
The full Conservative Party Manifesto can be found here: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/manifesto2015/ConservativeManifesto2…
