Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his announcement of 18 May 2019 entitled High streets to benefit from £62 million heritage boost, what steps he will take to ensure that pub companies are not incentivised to close historic pubs to benefit from funding for other redevelopment uses; and if he will make a statement.

The purpose of the Heritage High Street funding programmes is to help high streets adapt to the challenges they face. To do that, both will be working closely with the communities that those high streets serve so as to better understand the particular needs of each place to ensure interventions are designed to support those needs.

The Historic England led High Street Heritage Action Zone programme will be working closely with local partners in the development of each scheme. This emphasis on local need is reflected in the programme’s Critical Success Factors, which include orking with local businesses and communities, to ensure that local needs, knowledge, insight and narratives drive the local investment programme.

The Architectural Heritage Fund’s Transforming Places through Heritage scheme will support social enterprise organisations to take ownership of and bring buildings of local importance - such as pubs - back into use and secure their place as community assets.