Sixth Report - Supporting our high streets after COVID-19

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 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 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'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 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 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 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 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.