Select committee: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 23
Sixth Report - Supporting our high streets after COVID-19
Published 10 Dec 2021
Paragraph 115
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)
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 report on Permitted Development Rights that the Government should consider amending the use class regime to prevent out-of-town commercial and business premises from being converted to retail without having first gone through the sequential test.
From: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Sixth Report - Supporting our high streets after COVID-19 (HC 37), paragraph 115, 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.