Built Environment Committee launches new inquiry on improving Britain’s public spaces

The House of Lords Built Environment Committee today invites written submissions to its new inquiry on maintenance and enforcement in public spaces.

From pavements to parks, the committee will be exploring how public spaces can be designed and maintained to maximise quality of life for residents, business, community groups, shoppers and tourists. The committee is particularly interested in finding out:

• What impact good and bad public spaces have on people, communities and businesses.
• What common problems affect public spaces and how these can be overcome.
• Who is best placed to manage and maintain public spaces.
• What data about public spaces is collected and how this be used and shared.
• Examples of best practice for maintaining public spaces and how these can be replicated around the country.
• What the Government should do to improve public spaces.

Lord Gascoigne, Chair of the House of Lords Built Environment Committee, said:

Public spaces such as high streets, town squares, and local parks play an important role in the day-to-day lives of people across the country and we've launched our new inquiry to find out how these spaces can be improved.

To inform our work we want to hear from as broad a range of people as possible. If you have a view on any aspect of our inquiry, look at our call for evidence and let us know what you think.

The committee is seeking answers to the following questions:

1. To what extent do you think it is important that public spaces (such as parks, streets and town squares) are well maintained? Why?
    - Can improving public spaces lead to improved wider outcomes for residents and communities? How?
    - Can improving public spaces lead to improved wider outcomes for businesses? How?
   What evidence is there to support your answer? Where possible, please provide quantitative evidence.

2. What are the main challenges associated with the maintenance and enforcement of public spaces in the United Kingdom? What three recommendations would you make to fix each challenge?
    - What data is available on how standards have changed over time and how they vary between areas? Where possible, please quantify the causes for this that you consider most significant.
3. Are current enforcement powers for local authorities, private landowners and the police adequate to enforce high standards in public spaces? Are they appropriate? 
    - What are the barriers to effective enforcement in public spaces?
    - Which changes to powers or penalties would you recommend and why?
4. Do those responsible for public spaces have the necessary resources, powers and expertise to steward them?
    - If they do not, what steps should be taken? Where possible, please provide an estimate of the associated costs.
    - Are you aware of any data available to support your answer? For example, trends in staffing, specialist skills and spending over the past decade.
5. Which people, institutions or authorities are placed to maintain a high-quality public spaces?
    - Does it matter if public spaces are privately owned or managed? Why or why not? What evidence is there to support your view?
     - What role do you see for the voluntary sector and community organisations in maintaining high-quality public spaces, both individually and in partnership with local authorities and/or local businesses?
6. What steps can all levels of government take to improve public spaces? Why do you think these steps would work?  
    - Do you think current government interventions, including the Pride in Place Strategy, will help to improve public spaces? How could these interventions be improved?
7. How can new public spaces be designed, or existing public spaces be regenerated, to be both high-quality and encourage better long-term maintenance outcomes over time? 
    - What examples should the Committee examine to consider best practice in this area, and what lessons should be learnt?
8. In your view, what data is needed to monitor the quality of public spaces? Is this data currently collected consistently? What steps could be taken to increase the quality and availability of data?
9. What are the most successful initiatives at a local or regional level, or from abroad, that the Committee should look to learn from? Please say what results they achieved, how these were measured and evaluated and whether you think they could be replicated elsewhere.
10. What recommendations should this Committee make to the Government regarding maintenance and enforcement in public spaces? Where possible, please specify who should act, the estimated cost and how success should be measured.

The deadline for the submission of written evidence is 23:59 on Friday 13 November 2026.

Read the call for evidence and find out how to submit evidence.