Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to rejuvenate town centres.

This Government is fully committed to supporting the businesses and communities that make our high streets and town centres successful as the nation responds to the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Government is working to deliver a package of long-term measures that support town centre regeneration. This includes the £3.6 billion Towns Fund, which will support an initial 101 places across England to secure Town Deals. It will support local areas to renew and reshape town centres and high streets in a way that improves experience, drives growth and ensures future sustainability. In September 2020, we brought forward over £80 million funding in to support immediate improvements in 101 towns selected for deals to “build back better” in the wake of COVID-19.

On the 26 December 2020, the Secretary of State confirmed £255 million for fifteen areas from the Future High Streets Fund, with a further 57 areas receiving provisional funding offers totalling up to £576 million.

Further, the Government is launching a new Levelling Up Fund. This Fund will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities and will support economic recovery. We will publish a prospectus for the Fund soon.

We are providing support to local leadership in England with a High Streets Task Force, giving them expert advice to support their high streets and town centres to adapt and thrive. This is providing hands-on support to local areas to develop data-driven innovative strategies and connect local areas to relevant experts, and will operate up to 2024.