The General Election and Charity Retail

Ahead of this week’s General Election, we have produced a summary of election pledges that will potentially impact on charity retailers. Our summary is available here.

Across all the party manifestos, there are few references to the charity or voluntary sector and no direct references to the importance of charity retail. However, the manifestos set out a range of policies on tax, high streets, employment rights and the environment that would impact on charity retail.

Key themes emerging across the party manifestos suggest that whatever the General Election outcome:

  • There will be significant increases to the National Living Wage.
  • The business rates system will be reformed or replaced in England.
  • There will be a substantial increase in police numbers.
  • UK producers and importers of new goods will be required to take greater responsibility for the cost of dealing with the waste they create.

There is general consensus across the parties that the National Living Wage should increase from the current £8.21, with sums of between £10 and £12 an hour being put forward. It is also suggested that the National Living Wage should be widened to apply to all those over 21, or to apply to all workers regardless of age. It will be important to consider the impact of these changes on charity retail.

The three main UK parties all agree on the fact that the current business rates system is broken and that change is needed. The Conservatives promise a fundamental review with reductions for retail businesses as a first step. Labour and the Liberal Democrats raise the possibility of replacing business rates with a new land tax paid by landlords. We will need to ensure that the current charitable rate relief is retained through these changes.

There is also a broad consensus behind increasing police numbers. This will mean that greater police resource is available to tackle retail crime and anti-social behaviour outside of stores.

Finally, there is strong support for making importers and UK producers of new goods responsible for full costs of managing the waste that they produce. This could result in importers and producers being required to support local councils, charity retailers and others who are integral to enabling higher rates of recycling and reuse.

You can access our summary of the party manifesto policies here.

Jonathan Mail
Head of Public Affairs
Charity Retail Association