City and Town Centres: Regeneration

Bradley Thomas Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Bradley Thomas (Bromsgrove) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I thank the hon. Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) for securing this debate.

Regardless of politics, so many of us have seen how town centres have changed over probably a couple of decades. It is pertinent to acknowledge the factors that have contributed to that for so long; the rise of the internet is a predominant one. When I am out and about in my constituency, people often ask me what we are going to do about high streets. I always think that there is an onus on us to do a little more. If each household in my constituency spent an extra £5 per week in the local economy, it would keep about £12 million a year in it and our high streets would benefit.

I agree with a reasonable amount of what has been said. I, too, am hugely optimistic for the future of our town centres. They are the most visible barometer of the vitality and vibrancy of the places we represent. It is critical that we look at the issue through two lenses: the national piece and the local factors. Nationally, we are in need of business rates reform. The business rates system has not been updated to keep pace with changing retail habits and the business environment that we seek to create, with a new culture of investment that will catalyse our town centres and other places.

I will not dwell on business rates reform, because I want to make a few other points. The first is about what can be encouraged at a local level. I am keen to see local councils taking a much more active role in championing their towns and communities as destinations for investment. I say this not through the lens of the planning system, but from the perspective of discovering the vision and potential of the place. What is the quality of the built environment? Which natural, cultural and heritage assets are the hooks to attract high-quality investment from large corporates, from institutional investors or even from local entrepreneurs who want to create a sense of vitality in their area while creating a living for themselves?

I call on the Government to encourage and support as many councils as possible in the creation of local investment prospectuses that will drive unique investment to capture and catalyse the potential of each of our places. Hanging off that is the role of urban design. Since many years before my election to Parliament, I have spoken about design. Those who know me well will probably be sick of hearing me talk about it, but it is fundamental.

The hon. Member for Derby North talked about the quality of the built environment. We have to shift our mindset away from good design being seen as a cost, and see it instead as an investment on which we get so many returns, both tangible and intangible. It is about how we can design out crime, design in health and wellbeing and inspire a sense of pride in a place where people do not just want to live. Hanging from that is a catalysed sense of economic renewal.

Skills are also fundamental. If we get this right, focus on our town centres, join the dots with the wider economic renewal of our constituencies, and focus on a long-term industrial strategy and skills agenda, we can really make a difference. I call on the Government to focus on how we can empower local councils, on a long-term industrial strategy for the UK, and particularly on the roles that skills development can play in catalysing our areas.