The Government should immediately conduct a full “lessons
learned” review on the impact on high streets of central and
local government handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, says the
cross-party Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
(LUHC) Committee in a report published today (Friday).
The Committee’s report includes recommendations which:
- Call for the full “lessons learned” review on the high
streets to be conducted immediately, ahead of the main
independent Covid-19 inquiry
- Support the principle of an online sales tax
- Call for the Government to move away from competitive bidding
processes for town regeneration schemes and shift to greater
local devolution of funding.
The Supporting our high streets after covid-19
report examines the support from Government and local
authorities during the pandemic. The report looks at the range of
financial help and non-fiscal support such as changes to pavement
licenses, and the impact on the high street of public health
measures such as Test and Trace, social distancing, and guidance
on face-coverings.
The report also looks ahead to the future and how to build back
better high streets, reflecting on the continuing rise of online
retail and the increase in hybrid working. The report highlights
the need for local planners to consider a mix of uses and
experiences for high streets and town centres that best meet the
needs of the local area.
The Committee’s report supports the principle of an online sales
tax and welcomes that revenue from an online sales tax would be
used to reduce business rates for retailers. The report calls on
the Government to consider a series of factors in its online
sales tax consultation, including the impact on local authority
income, and stresses the importance of ensuring an online sales
tax does not penalise retailers with an online and
bricks-and-mortar presence.
The report expresses concern that the competitive bidding process
for many of the Government’s town regeneration funding schemes
may fail to direct funding to the places that most need it. It
also criticises a lack of transparency and evaluation associated
with these schemes, in particular warning that by not sharing
which local authorities’ bids were rejected, the Government
hampers scrutiny of whether these funds achieve their intended
objectives. The report is critical of the Government's current
approach to funding saying it is “too complex, short-term, and
fragmented” and calls on the Government to combine fewer grants
of larger sums of money with a sustainable long-term funding
settlement for local government and greater devolution of funding
and powers.
The report also urges the Government to seriously consider not
making the UK Shared Prosperity Fund a competitive fund.
, Chair of the Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, said: “The
Covid-19 pandemic dramatically changed our high streets almost
overnight, with the pandemic accelerating existing consumer
trends and introducing new ones. To help build the resilient,
thriving high streets of the future, it’s vital that Government
facilitates a long-term, holistic approach both to the planning
and to the regeneration funding of our town centres. The
Government should look at how it can support strategies which
bring together local councils, business partners, and the local
community in developing high streets which capitalise on local
heritage and experiences and which combine a mix of uses,
including retail, hospitality, green-spaces, and arts and
culture.
“An immediate ‘lessons learned’ review is necessary to examine
the impact of the handling of the pandemic on the high street.
But the pandemic is not over, and it is important the Government
is alert to the continuing effects on our town centres and
monitors the impact of the full range of covid-19 business
support that affects the high street and is prepared to adjust
this if necessary.”
The Committee’s report emphasises the need for high streets to be
well-planned in the round and with plans updated regularly to
keep pace with changing trends, stating that “a plan that is more
than five years old will do little to support a high street for
the future”. The Government should publish annually a list of
which areas have strategies for their high streets and town
centres and when they were last updated.
The report welcomes aspects of the Government's reforms to
business rates, but expresses concern that they do not amount to
long-term or fundamental reforms. The Committee recommends
the Government set out its plan for when the 50% discount for
retail, hospitality and leisure businesses comes to an end after
a year, such as a permanent reduction in the multiplier. The plan
needs to be for long-term reform of business rates that reduces
the need for a complicated system of reliefs, and does not reduce
income for local authorities.
The report makes a series of recommendations relating to planning
and changes to permitted development rights, to commercial rents
during the covid-19 pandemic, and to increasing use of public
transport and active travel.
