Recommendations & Conclusions
40 items
1
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We commend the Government for acting decisively and quickly to implement a wide-ranging package that supported high street businesses during the covid-19 pandemic. We additionally commend the Government for taking steps to avoid a cliff- edge of support, both by extending schemes beyond the lifting of restrictions, and by winding …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
2
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
The Government’s commitment in its hospitality strategy to learning lessons from the pandemic for the hospitality sector is a welcome start, but it should do so for high streets and town centres in the round. Learning lessons will not only help central and local government be better prepared to support …
Government response. The Government agrees with the Committee on the importance of learning lessons from the impact of the handling of the pandemic, and is committed to doing so. Throughout the pandemic, the Government has continually monitored the economic impact of restrictions …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
3
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We recommend that the Government conduct a full lessons learned review that specifically examines the impact of the handling of the pandemic at central and local government level on the short- and long-term health of high streets and town centres. The Government may wish to consider high streets in its …
Government response. The Government agrees with the Committee on the importance of learning lessons from the impact of the handling of the pandemic, and is committed to doing so. Throughout the pandemic, the Government has continually monitored the economic impact of restrictions …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
4
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
While we consider that an immediate lessons learned review is needed, we recognise that the pandemic is not over. The Government should continue to monitor the impact of the full range of covid-19 business support that affects the high street with a view to being prepared to adjust such support …
Government response. The Government agrees with the Committee on the importance of learning lessons from the impact of the handling of the pandemic, and is committed to doing so. Throughout the pandemic, the Government has continually monitored the economic impact of restrictions …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
5
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
It remains the case that resilient, thriving high streets and town centres of the future will be planned in the round in collaboration with local authorities, the business 68 Supporting our high streets after COVID-19 community (including Business Improvement Districts), property owners and the local community. Strategies for high streets …
Government response. The Government highlights in the National Planning Policy Framework the need for town centres to adapt and diversify to allow a more positive, flexible approach to changes in retail and leisure industries, planning for a suitable mix of uses which …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
6
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
In line with our predecessor Committee’s recommendations and our report on the planning system in England, Local Plans and strategies for high streets and town centres must be updated regularly in order to keep pace with changing trends. This will also help to identify how vacant units arising from the …
Government response. The Government agrees with the importance of up-to-date Local Plans. Having an effective, up-to-date plan in place is essential in making good use of land, resulting in well-designed and attractive places to live. On 19 January 2021, a Written Ministerial …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
7
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We welcome the £65 million for the planning regime announced in the Spending Review towards a new digital system, though more detail is needed on what this new system will entail. Additionally, this announcement falls significantly short of our previous calls for £500 million over four years for local planning …
Government response. We need a modernised planning system – one which embraces digital technology, benefits communities and creates places in which people can take real pride. The additional £65m announced as part of the Spending Review is critical to achieving this vision. …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
8
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
As our predecessor Committee recommended, retailers must adapt to changing consumer habits in order to thrive. Retailers should especially consider how to embrace online as part of their business model, not only as a channel through which to sell products, but also as a means of engaging with customers. The …
Government response. The Government recognises and understands the challenges faced by retailers. While the trend towards online shopping has been accelerated by COVID-19, 72% of retail sales in 2020 took place in stores and physical retail will remain an important route to …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
9
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We recommend that place partnerships and, where possible, businesses, should continually review whether store opening hours are meeting people’s needs and generating maximum custom as consumers settle into life after the pandemic. We recommend that places that cannot invest in footfall counting technology make use of the High Streets Task …
Government response. We agree that places without access to footfall data would benefit from the High Streets Task Force’s manual footfall counting programme. Places can request a footfall dashboard on the Task Force’s website, which gives them access to estimated footfall data …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
10
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
The future of the high street will depend in part on where people work. It is therefore disappointing that the Government’s impact assessment of its consultation on Supporting our high streets after COVID-19 69 making flexible working the default does not consider high streets and town centres. The Government should …
Government response. The Government agrees it is important to consider the impacts of flexible working on high streets, and this has been built into policy development. The 2014 flexible working regulations provide employees with 26 weeks continuous service the statutory right to …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
11
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
With hybrid working likely to become more common, co-working spaces may offer an opportunity to attract footfall to smaller high streets and town centres. The Government should consider how co-working office spaces can be taxed fairly so as to stimulate high street business without harming local authority income or BID …
Government response. The Government agrees it is important to consider the impacts of flexible working on high streets, and this has been built into policy development. The 2014 flexible working regulations provide employees with 26 weeks continuous service the statutory right to …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
12
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We are disappointed that the Build Back Better High Streets Strategy does not mention markets and does not introduce any new initiatives for heritage. The Government should consider what further steps it can take to support markets and local heritage to build back better high streets.
Government response. The Build Back Better High Streets Strategy represents the Government’s high-level, long-term vision to support the evolution and regeneration of all high streets into thriving places. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all activities that contribute …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
13
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
The Government’s commitment in its Build Back Better High Streets strategy to work with stakeholders on how property owners and community groups can be better engaged with Business Improvement Districts is welcome, albeit vague. This work should include consideration of how Business Improvement Districts can be supported to be their …
Government response. As highlighted in the Select Committee report, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have played a key role in supporting our high streets throughout the pandemic. We thank the Committee for their helpful suggestions on additional models that could be taken forwards …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
14
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We welcome the Government’s intentions to reform the Compulsory Purchase Order process, which is overdue. The Government must publish further detail on proposed reforms to the Compulsory Purchase Order process without delay, along with timescales for reform. It should set out how it intends to streamline and simplify the process, …
Government response. The Government will pr [...truncated...] as flood risk, noise and transport in order to mitigate any impacts on residents. Where high streets are in conservation areas, an additional prior approval applies allowing for local consideration of the impact of the …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
15
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
The Government’s current approach to funding town centre regeneration—in line with its approach to allocating funding to local government generally—is too complex, short-term, and fragmented. Ultimately this funding approach may hamper rather than facilitate the Government’s ambitions to build back better high streets, which require funding for long-term, comprehensive strategies …
Government response. Government has been proactive in building capacity within Local Authorities within recent local growth funds. Both the Towns Fund and Levelling Up Fund contain dedicated resource for Local Authorities most in need to be able to produce the most robust …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
16
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
The Government should keep to its commitment that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will at least match receipts from EU structural funds. It should ensure that areas that would have been classed as objective 1 areas had the UK remained in the EU do not 70 Supporting our high streets …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
17
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We urge the Government to publish measurable outcomes frameworks for each of the Towns Fund, Levelling Up Fund, Community Ownership Fund, UK Community Renewal Fund, and UK Shared Prosperity Fund. These frameworks should set out how the funds achieve the goal of levelling up high streets and town centres, taking …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
18
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
It is important for the Government not just to evaluate the success of the individual funds, but also to have a clear framework for how the different funds will work together to achieve high street and town centre regeneration at the scale that is required in all the places the …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
19
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
For each competitive fund available for high streets, the Government should publish the full list of local authorities whose bids were unsuccessful in each round. For future rounds of bidding for these funds, the Government should consider requiring local authorities to state how much it cost them to put the …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
20
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
The Government should clarify whether any further funds will be available from the Towns Fund for competitive bidding, as was originally intended, or whether the Government’s position is now that authorities who wish to compete for funding for Town Deals should do so by applying to the Levelling Up Fund.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
21
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
The Government should explain why such a high proportion of applications to the Community Ownership Fund were disqualified. For future rounds, the Government should ensure that the eligibility requirements are clear and well understood. The Government should also set out its justification for requiring communities applying to the fund to …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
22
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
It is clear that the High Streets Task Force is highly prized and should be commended for its excellent work in its first two years of existence, in particularly difficult circumstances. While the focus of the High Streets Task Force necessarily had to Supporting our high streets after COVID-19 71 …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
23
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We are concerned by the Government’s confirmation that change of use from office to retail no longer requires a sequential test to protect main town centre uses, and we welcome the Secretary of State’s recent commitment to us to look again at this issue. We reiterate our recommendation from our …
Government response. We are encouraged to see recent reports suggesting high streets vacancy rates are in decline. Local Data Company data has shown that vacancy rates fell for the first time since 2018 in the second half of 2021.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
24
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We also reiterate our recommendation that the Government amend the prior approval process for the class MA right so that councils, in deciding whether to approve development, can consider the impact of a loss of ground-floor commercial, business and service use on the sustainability of a town centre or high …
Government response. We consider that this provides the right balance between consideration of impacts on residents and the amenity of the area, with the sustainability of the high street. To go beyond this would make the process more onerous for applicants in …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
25
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
Housing has a valuable role to play in mixed-use high streets, but we are not convinced that extending permitted development rights from Use Class E to residential is the right way to address either the housing shortage or the regeneration of high streets and town centres. We are concerned that …
Government response. Our aim in bringing forward the permitted development right for the change of use from Commercial, Business and Service use to residential is to support housing delivery, diversify our high streets and support the wider economy. We accept that this …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
26
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We welcome many of the Government’s reforms to business rates, in particular the more frequent revaluations and the 12-month holiday from increases arising from investing in improvements. But we are concerned that they do not amount to long-term or fundamental reforms that will make a significant difference to high street …
Government response. The government has significantly reformed the business rates system to reduce the burden of business rates on firms in the long-term. A move to 3-yearly revaluations will ensure that bills are more responsive to changing economic conditions and make the …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
27
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We welcome the fact that the Government intends to compensate local authorities for its temporary business rates measures, though more detail on how it intends to do so is needed. The Government should set out how it intends to compensate local authorities for its temporary business rates measures.
Government response. The Government will continue to compensate local authorities in full to cover the costs of granting temporary business rates relief measures, in line with the eligibility criteria set out in the guidance. Local authorities can claim compensation by submitting data …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
28
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We welcome the consultation on transitional relief, and recognise that more frequent revaluations will go some way to helping businesses pay the correct level of business rates for their properties’ rateable values. The Government’s consultation should consider how businesses in a downward property market can reach a stage where they …
Government response. The Government is aware of stakeholder concerns that downwards transitional relief arrangements have often prevented bills from accurately reflecting actual property values. In 2023, the Government will implement a new transitional relief scheme, taking into consideration a wide range of …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
29
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We support the principle of an online sales tax and welcome the consultation. We particularly welcome that revenue from an online sales tax would be used to reduce business rates for retailers. The Government should provide clear timescales for the consultation. Since the future of retail is multichannel due to …
Government response. The government thanks the committee for the consideration they have given to the proposal for an online sales tax (OST), which has been put forward by a range of stakeholders. HM Treasury published a consultation exploring the arguments for and …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
30
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
Building on its fundamental review of business rates, the Government should conduct a full review of taxes on high street businesses to ensure that they are fair, fit for purpose in a digital era, and generate economic, environmental, and social value. The review should include an analysis by sector and …
Government response. The Government’s review of business rates has reduced the burden for all high street businesses, delivering reforms which will make the system fairer and more responsive to changing economic conditions. The review has also reaffirmed the importance of business rates …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
31
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We welcome the steps taken by the Government to address the issue of covid-19 related commercial rent arrears. Alongside the legislation that the Government has introduced, explicit guidance will be required to define exactly what is meant by ringfencing arrears and the periods to which ringfencing applies. As well as …
Government response. On 9 November 2021, alongside introduction of the Commercial Rents (Coronavirus) Bill, Government published a new Commercial Rents Code of Practice (https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/commercial-rents-code-of-practice-november-2021). The Code aligns with this legislation and sets out what the arbitration process provided for in the …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
32
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We are concerned that the Government’s Build Back Better High Streets strategy does not mention Company Voluntary Arrangements. We recommend that the Government consults stakeholders to determine whether a review of Company Voluntary Arrangements is needed. (Paragraph 138) Supporting our high streets after COVID-19 73
Government response. The Government continues to believe that Company Voluntary Arrangements are a valuable tool within the Insolvency framework for rescuing businesses across the whole economy. However, recognising the concerns being raised by commercial landlords, the Insolvency Service has recently tendered for …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
33
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We welcome the Government’s decision to review the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, Part II, as recommended by our predecessor Committee. The Government should consider, whether separately or as part of the review, how to make commercial property ownership more transparent and property owners more easily contactable, such as through …
Government response. The forthcoming review of the landlord and tenant legislation will seek to develop proposals for a framework that helps support the efficient, flexible use of space confirmed; further details will be announced in the coming months. On the issue of …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
34
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We are concerned that the Government lacks a joined-up approach for generating jobs on the high street and ensuring that those working on the high street have the opportunity to develop appropriate skills. The Government should set out its targets for high street employment and how they relate to its …
Government response. Through our skills reforms, we are helping more people get the quality technical skills that employers want – including by expanding our post-16 technical education and training offer; providing a more direct line of sight to jobs; and delivering courses …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
35
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
While we recognise that some provision of parking to access high streets and town centres is necessary for accessibility reasons, strategies for high streets should seek to minimise car use and increase public transport and active travel. The Government should commission a review of the relationship between local authority income …
Government response. The Government recognises the important link between parking provision and the vitality of our high streets and town centres, especially in towns outside of London where transport infrastructure does not allow citizens to use public transport. Local authorities are responsible …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
36
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We welcome significant government funding for public transport, though we urge the Government to clarify how much of its £3 billion for buses is for covid-19 recovery and how much is for investing in improvements. The Government should embed the accessibility of high streets by public transport—by people of all …
Government response. We have announced £3bn for buses over this Parliament. This includes money for bus improvement, zero emission buses and some of the support for the bus sector during the pandemic. The Spending Review confirmed £1.2bn for transforming bus services and …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
37
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
We welcome government funding for active travel and reiterate our recommendation from our report on local government and the path to net zero that the Government should put funding for active travel on a consistent footing as opposed to a competitive basis. The Government should publish how additional funding for …
Government response. We recognise that funding competitions have their shortcomings, and are keen to provide long- term funding certainty for local authorities. We will consider this recommendation carefully in deciding active travel funding allocations for local authorities for future years, working with …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
38
Recommendation
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
To maximise the number of people accessing high streets by foot, bicycle, or public transport, the Government should ensure that the revised Manual for Streets includes clear guidance on how to make walking, cycling, and public transport accessible to people of all characteristics and backgrounds. The Government should also develop …
Government response. Section 6 of Manual for Streets already provides detailed guidance to local highway authorities on designing streets for all people regardless of age or reliability. This will be updated in line with latest best practice. The Government’s long-term strategy for …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
39
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
Local authorities should monitor the social, environmental, and economic impacts of any changes to walking, cycling, and public transport infrastructure on high streets.
Government response. The Department for Transport requires the impacts of schemes to be monitored as a condition of grant funding for infrastructure schemes. The Department is undertaking a national evaluation of the impacts of schemes funded through the Active Travel Fund.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
40
Conclusion
Sixth Report - Supporting our high stre…
It is disappointing that consideration of freight solutions for the high street is missing from the Government’s Build Back Better High Streets strategy. Consideration of freight solutions should include how the use of more environmentally friendly freight solutions may be incentivised, such as ‘last-mile’ logistics by bicycle and greater rollout …
Government response. The Government agrees that consideration of freight flows in and out of the high street and management of congestion is critical to its future success and environmentally friendly solutions should be encouraged. The Department for Transport have work underway to …
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government