Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support his Department is providing (a) directly and (b) to the Northern Ireland Executive to support Northern Ireland’s high streets.

This Government is fully committed to supporting the businesses and communities that make our high streets and town centres successful, particularly as the nation responds to the impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak. Now more than ever, it is vital that we continue to help our local economies by supporting town centres and high streets, adapt and evolve.

High streets and town centres policy is a devolved matter. Government officials have worked and will continue to work closely with their counterparts in the devolved administrations on the response to Covid-19 and in the future.