The impact of Covid-19 is likely to mean that some towns’ plans for how best to spend the money will need to be revisited. We are very concerned about the short-term and long-term effects of Covid-19 on towns, and high streets in particular. The Department tells us that its guidance steers towns to think carefully about investments that increase retail space in towns, given that Covid-19 may have accelerated some of the challenges for the high street. We are also concerned that Covid-19 will reduce towns ability to raise match funding for its plans. The Department says that it will help towns to meet the challenges of Covid-19 by giving towns with exceptionally good and well-evidenced plans more than £25 million, the original maximum funding limit, and that towns that have been more adversely affected by Covid-19 may have a greater likelihood of securing funding. It also plans to bring forward £80 million of the Towns Fund with each town receiving between £500,000 and £1 million. We remain concerned though that as the pandemic continues to affect towns, some will find that their plans need to change to respond to new challenges, and the Department needs to be alive to this. Recommendation: In its Treasury Minute response, the Department should set out how it is responding to the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on towns and their ability to implement their proposals for spending the funding and on the timeline for releasing funding. 8 Selecting towns for the Towns Fund 1 The selection process