Sixth Report - Supporting our high streets after COVID-19

The government agrees on the importance of learning lessons from the pandemic and states it continually monitored economic impacts and engaged with the retail sector. It has also commissioned an external evaluation of the Business Support Grant programme's delivery effectiveness.

The government acknowledged the importance of learning lessons from the pandemic's impact on high streets and town centres, citing ongoing monitoring, engagement with the retail sector, and an external evaluation of the Business Support Grant programme.

The government agrees on the importance of learning lessons, states it has continually monitored economic impacts, and highlights an external evaluation commissioned by BEIS on the effectiveness of the Business Support Grant programme. However, it does not commit to the full, separate lessons learned review covering all specified aspects of the pandemic's impact on high streets, such as fraud/error or public health measure support.

The government stated that it has continually monitored the economic impact of restrictions and designed funding support based on ongoing assessments, citing recent Omicron support and an external evaluation of business support grants as evidence of existing work.

The government states that existing policies like the National Planning Policy Framework and National Model Design Code already emphasize adaptability, diversification, and good design for town centres. New funds like the Levelling Up Fund also support projects aligned with these principles for high street renewal.

The government acknowledged the importance of up-to-date Local Plans and stated they are considering measures to support their implementation, but did not commit to annually publishing a list of high street strategies and their update status.

The government acknowledges the need for upfront investment in skills and capability, stating further detail will be shared in due course, and points to existing capacity funding for local authorities through the Towns Fund and Levelling Up Fund. The planning system strategy details are also deferred.

The government has accepted this recommendation and is implementing the Help to Grow: Digital Scheme, which offers support and discounts to 100,000 SMEs over three years to adopt digital technologies and become multichannel.

The government agrees that places without footfall data would benefit from the High Streets Task Force's manual footfall counting program, noting that a footfall dashboard is available on the Task Force's website as part of its wider online offer.

The government agrees the impact of flexible working on high streets is important and states this has been built into policy development, referencing an impact assessment published alongside a consultation on flexible working.

The government agrees it is important to consider the impacts of flexible working on high streets and refers to flexible working regulations and a consultation on amending the existing framework, but does not address the specific recommendation on the taxation of co-working spaces.

The government clarifies that the Build Back Better High Streets Strategy is high-level and not exhaustive, but fully recognises the significant role of markets and heritage. It highlights existing support through the £95m High Street Heritage Action Zones programme and the £15m Transforming Places Through Heritage programme.

The government acknowledged the suggestions for additional BID models and stated they would keep them under consideration, but did not commit to a review or to collecting and publishing new examples, instead pointing to existing resources.

The government response discusses existing planning considerations related to flood risk, noise, transport, and conservation areas, along with high street vacancy rates, but does not address the recommendation to publish further details and timescales on Compulsory Purchase Order process reforms.

The government's response highlights its proactive measures to build capacity within local authorities for current local growth funds like the Towns Fund and Levelling Up Fund, enabling them to produce robust bids. It focuses on existing support for competitive funding without committing to change the complex, fragmented, or competitive nature of the funding approach recommended by the committee.

The government defers a substantive response on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund's allocation method, stating that details are not included in this response but will be published shortly.

The government acknowledges the committee's request and states that further information regarding the Monitoring and Evaluation Strategies for the Towns Fund and Community Renewal Fund has recently been published, partially addressing the recommendation for outcome frameworks across all listed funds.

The government states it will set out a plan for streamlining the funding landscape this year, including a commitment to help local stakeholders navigate funding opportunities, rather than directly committing to an overarching evaluation framework for its Build Back Better High Streets Strategy.

The government already publishes details of successful bids and requires Levelling Up Fund applicants to provide bid development costs, partially addressing the recommendation. They did not commit to publishing unsuccessful bids or undertaking a broad cost-benefit analysis of the bidding process.

The government clarified that the Towns Fund is completed and all deals have been allocated. Authorities seeking funding for Town Deals should now apply to the Levelling Up Fund.

The government justified the 50% capital funding requirement but did not commit to removing it. They are reviewing the prospectus to clarify eligibility criteria for future rounds and have commissioned an external evaluation of the fund to capture lessons learned.

The government thanks the High Streets Task Force and other organisations for their work, but does not address the recommendation to review the Task Force's size, remit, and budget with a view to increasing it.

The government did not address the recommendation to amend the use class regime for office-to-retail conversions, instead noting a decline in high street vacancy rates.

The government rejected the recommendation to amend the prior approval process for Class MA rights, stating the current balance is appropriate and further changes would make the process too onerous.

The government rejected the recommendation for an evaluation of permitted development rights' impact on high streets, reiterating its aim to support housing delivery and diversify high streets through these rights.

The government acknowledges the need for business rate reform, outlining existing measures such as 3-yearly revaluations and a completed technical consultation. It highlights current support through the 50% relief and an extended multiplier freeze but does not explicitly set out a plan for when the current reliefs end.

The government explained that it already compensates local authorities in full for temporary business rates relief through an established data submission process, thus outlining how it continues to do so.

The government acknowledged concerns about downwards transitional relief and committed to implementing a new scheme in 2023 to support businesses until the next revaluation, aiming for fairer and more responsive business rates.

The government has provided clear timescales for the online sales tax consultation (25 February to 20 May 2022) and confirmed it will consider the committee's specific points, including impacts on multichannel retailers and business rates, as part of this ongoing consultation process.

The government did not commit to a new, full review of taxes on high street businesses, instead highlighting its completed business rates review and ongoing support through the Towns Fund.

The government has accepted this recommendation, having already published the Commercial Rents Code of Practice on 9 November 2021, which provides explicit guidance defining ringfenced arrears, applicable periods by sector, and accounting for local restrictions as requested.

The government has tendered for research to determine if commercial landlords are unfairly treated in Company Voluntary Arrangements, the findings of which will inform if a further review is needed.

The government has accepted in part by committing to establish a new beneficial ownership register of overseas entities that own UK property under the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022. The broader review of landlord and tenant legislation, which may consider wider property ownership transparency, is deferred.

The government committed to devolving adult education functions and the associated core AEB to new areas, building on the 60% already devolved, but did not set out specific targets for high street employment.

The government deferred a review of the relationship between local authority income and parking fees, stating it will engage with authorities once transport patterns stabilise, but did not address the timeframe for a new data standard or cycle parking in car parks.

The government provided overall bus funding figures and committed to publishing new guidance for Local Transport Plans, but did not fully clarify the precise split of £3 billion for COVID-19 recovery versus improvements or explicitly confirm all requested high street accessibility criteria in funding.

The government deferred the recommendation to put active travel funding on a consistent footing and ringfence funds, stating it will consider this carefully when deciding future allocations.

The government states that Section 6 of Manual for Streets already provides detailed guidance which will be updated. It also highlights that the Department for Transport has already provided guidance and planning support to local authorities for increasing walking and cycling, aligned with the Gear Change strategy.

The government states that the Department for Transport already requires impacts of schemes to be monitored as a condition of grant funding for infrastructure and is undertaking a national evaluation of schemes funded through the Active Travel Fund.

The government agreed that freight solutions are critical and detailed ongoing work including testing future mobility solutions, examining urban consolidation centres, reviewing Local Transport Plans, and finalizing a 'Future of Freight' strategic plan for publication in early 2022.