Labour vows to defend high street

Ed Miliband is due to start a three-day, 10-town tour to launch Labour's local election campaign
8 April 2013

A Labour government will give councils new powers to stop payday lenders and betting shops swamping high streets, Ed Miliband is due to pledge.

Businesses that do well out of hard times are springing up in place of shops, restaurants and banks but town halls are almost powerless to act, the party leader will warn.

He will set out Labour proposals to change planning laws so councils could refuse permission for certain businesses, including payday lenders that "engulf" people in debt.

At the start of a three-day, 10-town tour to launch Labour's local election campaign, Mr Miliband will say: "Everyone here today knows how important our high streets are to towns and cities across Britain. They're not just the places we go to shop. They're the heart of our local communities. But today our high streets are changing -and often not for the better.

"Take an example. One of the fastest growing businesses on the high street are the payday lenders, sometimes charging extortionate rates of interest. In hard times, it is no wonder people turn to them. But often they just engulf people in debts that they cannot pay. Interest rates of over 1,000%.

"Too many councils are finding that they don't have the real power to stand up for local people. But that is what politics is supposed to be about: standing up for those without power and giving power to them. Currently if a bank branch closes down, there's nothing a council can do if a payday loan shop wants to move in and open up in the same place. Even if there's another lender next door. That can't be right."

The party plans to create an additional umbrella planning class that would let local authorities put some premises in a separate category. The move would allow councils to then block applications that meant a change of use for a property.

Mr Miliband will say that the new powers will effectively allow local people to decide what shops are allowed to open up and where. "This will be different in local areas, local solutions to local problems," he will add at the election launch in Ipswich. "But it means that when they want, the people in our towns and cities can say: 'No. Enough is enough'.

Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said: "It's frightening that more and more payday lenders are setting up shop on the high street. But the problem is much bigger online with the internet awash with websites promising to deliver a loan within minutes - prompting some councils and universities to ban access to payday loan websites from their computers.

"It is very easy to take out a payday loan but often extremely difficult to pay it back as debts spiral out of control. Predatory lenders are sending people into debt as they hand out loans to those who can't afford them and drain bank accounts to recoup loans, leaving no money left to buy food or pay to get to work. Payday lenders need to stop breaking the rules and stick to their pledge to treat people fairly."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in