Government Launches High Street Strategy To Boost Recovery
The government has published its long-term plan to support the evolution and regeneration of high streets. Speaking from the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) in Coventry last Thursday, Boris Johnson set out his vision on how the government would “level up and unite the country,” and his commitment to “breathe new life into town centres.”
The speech was billed in advance as an explanation of the government’s flagship policy of levelling up, but the Prime Minister mainly focused on what he called the “outrage” of glaring regional inequalities. This explains why the speech has been criticised, with the Guardian reporting that it ‘lacked substance’.
Levelling up is an ambiguous slogan bandied around a lot by Johnson. But it was still no clearer after the speech exactly what his flagship policy means, or how it will be funded. The speech offered little in the way of new ideas and only limited new funding, including a £50m fund for local football pitches and £10m to remove chewing gum from high streets.
The retail sector represents 20% of the UK’s GDP. For every £1 spent with local independents, an additional 63p of benefit is created for the local economy, compared to just 40p generated by larger national retailers. It’s independent retailers who will play a vital role in the economic recovery of local neighbourhoods. So it’s hard to see how Thursday’s announcement will “breathe new life into town centres” and help the high street get its groove back.
Here’s a roundup of the key announcements:
Bars, restaurants, and cafés will continue to be allowed to offer al-fresco service. After the rules were temporarily relaxed last year, pavement licences are to be extended and then made permanent, making it easier and cheaper for restaurants and cafes to set up tables outside and serve more customers.
A £150 million Community Ownership Fund is being made available to communities across the UK, giving people the chance to save their local pubs and run them as community-owned businesses.
A plan to devolve some powers through new 'county deals' was mentioned. There was little information about how this will work in practice.
New funding for ‘mini-Holland’ schemes across England to embed greener forms of transport, encouraging cycling and walking by installing segregated cycle lanes on main roads, expanding space for pedestrians and creating low-traffic neighbourhoods.
A new taskforce to eradicate chewing gum from the streets, with gum producers investing £10 million over the next 5 years to help fund councils to clean up gum from the streets and support schemes to prevent people from littering in the first place.
Councils will be encouraged to take a more hands-on approach to cleaning up graffiti, supported by £2 million in funding.
The Government will work to bring back street parties, making it easier for people to hold celebrations in their neighbourhood streets and picnics during national celebrations like the Commonwealth Games.
You’ll find more information on the Government’s strategy to regenerate high streets, including the Build Back Better High Streets policy paper and the Towns Deals here. Further details of the government’s “levelling up agenda” will be published in a white paper on the subject in the autumn.
I’d love to know your thoughts on the Government’s strategy to regenerate high streets. Please do let me know in the comments box below. Meanwhile keep an eye out for my article on Thursday exploring whether the high street can get its groove back.