PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Hospitality Sector - 12 March 2026 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

The Government recognise the central role the hospitality sector plays in supporting jobs, sustaining high streets and strengthening community life. That is why we have significantly increased the hospitality support fund, providing £10 million over three years to help hospitality businesses become more resilient, allowing them to thrive. We have permanently reduced business rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties, benefiting 750,000 properties. We are also beginning cross-Government work on a high streets strategy, developed with businesses and representatives, to be published later this year.

Energy costs are obviously a huge issue for hospitality businesses in a large rural constituency such as Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, but they are also an issue for hospitality business customers, because generally people travel to those businesses using their cars. Will the Minister and her colleagues in the Department lobby the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to ensure that the proposed rise in fuel duty does not go ahead in September?

I recognise that energy costs remain one of the biggest pressures facing hospitality businesses. I meet them regularly—including just this week—to make sure I am aware of their concerns and experiences on the ground. The real risk to businesses is dependence on volatile international gas markets, which we have, of course, seen; we have been left exposed to global energy shocks. The Government are prioritising on having more of our own power here in Britain. We are focusing on that to tackle the root cause of unstable energy markets. We are working closely with businesses, and across the sector, to understand the pressures, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way.

I am deeply concerned, as I am sure the Minister is, about the rising rate of youth unemployment, which is currently standing at 15%. One of the key employers of young people is the hospitality sector, as well as the retail sector. When I speak to businesses in my constituency of Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge, so many of them reference the fact that they have been hit by business rates and the impact of national insurance. That is discouraging investment and reducing job opportunities for young people. What action is the Minister taking to reverse that trend?

I agree that hospitality provides first jobs and career pathways for young people—a really important opportunity. As I have said many times in the House, it was my experience into employment, as I am sure it was for many other colleagues. Young people absolutely deserve that opportunity, which is why our focus is on skills and training, and getting young people into work. We will continue to back employers who take on apprentices and provide those opportunities, whether providing full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, or through employers not being required to pay national insurance contributions for all apprentices under the age of 25.

Under the previous Government, the number of youth apprenticeships was cut by 40%, and they presided over a massive increase in young people not in education, employment and training. I recognise what we are working with, but we want to provide opportunities for young people. We will not leave an entire generation of young people behind. We are looking to our £820 million youth guarantee and so much more to provide that employment support and to give them a guaranteed job, recognising the sector is vital.

Six hospitality venues are closing every single day under this Government. If the Government actually asked the sector why, businesses would tell them: it is because of the jobs-killing national insurance tax rises—literally a tax on jobs—as well as the red tape and additional costs of the Employment Rights Act 2025. When are the Government finally going to realise that those job losses and business closures are not happening despite the work of the Government, they are happening because of it?

The Conservative party left deep economic scars on our economy: weak growth, insecure work and a fragile labour market. This Government are restoring stability and rebuilding opportunity for people. Hospitality in particular is a vital sector for our high streets and for people. It thrives when the economy grows, wages rise, and people have more money to spend. We will always support our hospitality businesses, but do so responsibly and sustainably. They are at the heart of our high streets and community, and that is why we are backing them. We are reforming the broken system of business rates that the Conservatives left and did nothing about, and building a better support system for businesses, so they can thrive and support all employment, particularly for our young people.

Drivers looking for refreshment on the motorway have regular signs to point them to the available hospitality, but it is less easy for drivers of electric vehicles to see where they can get a coffee and a charge because of arcane rules that prevent EV signage on motorways. This is also a problem on A roads—one charge company told me it was quoted £150,000 to put up two signs on an A road. Given that many hospitality businesses have partnerships with EV charge providers, will the Minister work with the Department for Transport to change these mad signage rules and support hospitality and EV charging?

I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this issue to the House today. We are working closely with industry to promote consumer confidence in electric vehicles and their charging infrastructure. As at the end of February 2026, the Government and industry have supported the installation of more than 118,000 public chargers. In a move to help EV drivers to plug in to the rapidly expanding charging network, the Government are also modernising EV charging signage on major A roads, with changes allowing larger EV charging hubs to be signposted from major A roads, too. We are working with local authorities to make it easier to provide that signage to charging facilities on local roads.

For almost a year, the constituents of my friend and neighbour, the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell), have enjoyed the benefits of the guest beer agreement. Given that the Society of Independent Brewers believes that a right to buy a guest beer drives customers into pubs, can the Minister update the House on when she expects to announce the results of the beer market review and the merits of introducing a guest beer agreement in England?

My hon. Friend and I have discussed this matter at length. She champions the pubs in her constituency, and I thank her for it. We recognise the importance of independent breweries and pubs, and remain committed to ensuring that the beer and pub sector remains diverse, competitive and rooted in local communities. We have reviewed the beer market to assess any barriers facing small breweries and will announce the outcome in due course.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

In the Q4 2025 quarterly economic survey, 52% of businesses reported utility costs as a pressure that is driving them to raise prices, and there is a particular impact on the hospitality sector. Recent research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than a quarter of businesses will struggle to pay their energy bills over the next 12 months, and this survey was conducted before the recent escalation in the middle east. Last week’s forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility also did not take into account any potential impact from the jump in oil prices triggered by the strikes in Iran. The fuel duty hike in September is already expected to hit families and small businesses hard, so will the Secretary of State speak to the Chancellor now about scrapping this damaging policy?

The hon. Lady will have heard in my earlier remarks that I absolutely recognise those pressures and meet hospitality businesses regularly to hear their concerns; energy costs have, of course, come up as one of the biggest pressures facing them. I recognise the concerns those businesses will have when looking at the Gulf conflict and its possible impacts. As the hon. Lady will have heard in my earlier answer, the real risk to businesses is dependence on the volatile international gas markets, which has left us exposed. She will know the work that we are doing in different Departments to recognise that and to tackle that root cause in order to provide better support for businesses. We are looking at the unstable energy markets that have left us exposed and trying to ensure that we have more power here in Britain; we will work with the sector closely and across Government on that.