Contribution
I want to begin by focusing on young people and employment, which is a key aspect of economic growth. For growth with a purpose—to create a society that we can all feel part of and can all contribute to—it is vital that young people get the training to develop skills in the field they want to work in. It is often extremely hard for them just to get initial experience. Firing off job applications one after the other without success, it is easy to lose hope. They do not need the language of work incentives; they just need a chance.
The transition from school or college to work and adulthood can be difficult for anyone, and many people also start with disadvantages. Nobody should have to start their working life without support to find their first job. That is why I was very pleased to see the Government announcement earlier this spring of new investment in training and skills for young people, including the chance of a job for those who have been looking for work longest.
Given the closure of the UK shared prosperity fund, I would like to see the Government ensure continued funding for smaller community organisations that provide employment support for people facing the greatest challenges in finding work, such as disabled people or care leavers. I also urge the Government to take action to radically reform the student loan system, as when young people start work, they are often demoralised to find that their debt increases faster than they are able to pay it off.
I am very conscious of the role that small local businesses play in the economy and in the everyday lives of people in my constituency, but also of the challenges they face because of cost pressures and wider developments such as the growth of online shopping. Hair salons remain an important part of our high streets, largely run and staffed by women. They are a key source of apprenticeships and employment for young people under 35, and they generated an estimated £5.8 billion for the UK economy in 2023-24.
Victoria and Janet have owned Aura salon on Aigburth Road in my constituency for 24 years, and they have trained numerous young hairstylists over that time. Nevertheless, after weathering the financial crisis and the pandemic, they have—at least temporarily—stopped taking on new apprentices, like many other salons. I urge the Government to look again at how they can support small businesses like Aura salon.
In December, I visited another local small business in my constituency, the Motor Museum recording studio, which has always offered training and career opportunities for young people in record producing, mixing and engineering through its strong links with the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Liverpool University and Liverpool John Moores University.
The success of Olivia Dean and Lola Young at the Grammys was a major stimulus for the UK music industry, and a reminder that the creative industries are a key part of the UK economy. The Motor Museum has played a significant role in the industry’s success story over the 37 years of its existence, playing host to recording sessions by major UK bands like Oasis and the Arctic Monkeys, as well as artists from all over the world.
However, recording studios are facing an uncertain future. They are assessed for business rates in the same way as other business premises, like offices, on the basis of square footage, but it is the sound that studios create, not the space, that makes them distinctive. I urge the Government to consider assessing recording studios separately from other businesses, just as film studios are.
In her Mais lecture, the Chancellor highlighted once again how important it is that growth is not confined to London and the south-east—and recording studios are certainly not. They are part of the essential infrastructure of the music industry, and they are where so many young musicians take the first steps in their career. Without them, there would be no albums and no tours. We must not lose them.
Labour was the first party to refer specifically in a manifesto to the concerns of small businesses when, in 1906, it highlighted:
“Shopkeepers and traders are overburdened with rates and taxation, whilst the increasing land values, which should relieve the ratepayers, go to people who have not earned them.”
In closing, I urge the Government to do all they can to support small businesses in our UK economy.