Select committee: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 5
Sixth Report - Supporting our high streets after COVID-19
Published 10 Dec 2021
Paragraph 56
Addressed to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee Supporting our high streets after COVID-19 All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
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 and town centres should combine a mix of uses including housing, offices (including shared workspaces), retail, hospitality, leisure, arts and culture, healthcare, physical activity, green space, seating, and child’s play. These plans should be based on experiences and not just transactions, and be tailored to the needs and character of the individual area. Principles that local planners of high streets and town centres should explore include: creating experiences that cannot be found online; generating social value and not just economic growth; and supporting residents to move around because they want to, rather than because they have to. The Government should consider how these principles can be embedded within individual strategies for high streets and town centres across the country.
From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Sixth Report - Supporting our high streets after COVID-19 (HC 37), paragraph 56, 10 December 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 29 March 2022 (deadline 10 February 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it welcomes the Committee's report and "shares many of the Committee's key concerns", responding point by point with a mix of agreement, existing measures and commitments to publish further detail.
- On a lessons-learned review, the government "agrees with the Committee on the importance of learning lessons" from the handling of the pandemic and "is committed to doing so", pointing to the public inquiry due to start in Spring 2022.
- On funding, it recognises "the complexity in the existing funding landscape" and "will set out a plan for streamlining the funding landscape later this year", including a commitment to help local stakeholders navigate funding opportunities.
- On changes to the Use Classes Order, it does not accept a sequential test, saying adding one "would undermine the flexibilities introduced to support high streets". It aims to respond on permitted development rights "in due course".
- On an online sales tax, the government "has not decided whether to proceed" and will consider the Committee's issues as part of a consultation open to 20 May 2022.