High Streets

1. What steps he is taking to support high streets.

I associate myself with Mr Speaker’s comments about Lord Hattersley.

I gently remind the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers) that the Liberal Democrats had many years in government with the Conservatives in which they chose austerity. That speeded up the decline of our high streets, but this Government are committed to rejuvenating our high streets. Later this year, we will introduce a comprehensive high streets strategy, backed by £300 million of support, to transform the high streets that are most in need. That funding will be used to support the creation of high street innovation partnerships to reimagine and revive the country’s most struggling high streets.

It is Independent Bookshop Week, and we are fortunate to have some fantastic independent bookshops in Winchester, including P&G Wells, which I visited recently. It is possibly the longest-running bookshop in the country—it has been running continuously for over 300 years, and Jane Austen and John Keble used it. Not only is it important for our local economy and our high street; it is an important part of our historical culture and a real community hub. What is the Secretary of State doing to ensure that independent bookshops, which provide so much to communities, can cope with energy costs and business rates?

Speaking as a former publisher, I am very committed to the success of bookshops, and I congratulate the bookshop in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency on its many years of service to the public. This Government are bringing in long-overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system, which should support independent bookshops, and creating certainty by replacing a temporary relief with permanently lower taxes. We are looking to support such independent shops, because they are the kinds of businesses that give high streets identity and that local residents like.

It gives me pleasure to call Dame Jessica Morden.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Two thirds of businesses in Newport city centre are independent businesses, and it has been brilliant to see businesses such as Kingsway Market, Rock and Scallop and Banc open in recent weeks. However, this is undermined by shops selling illegal cigarettes, illegal vapes and counterfeit goods. What more can Ministers do, working with Home Office colleagues, to help trading standards—which does an excellent job in Newport; it shut two shops last week—tackle the issue of shops opening up again after being shut?

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her very well-deserved recognition. She raises an extremely important issue, which I am sure is of concern to Members right across the House. That is why it will be welcomed on all sides of the House that the Home Office has announced a high street organised crime unit to tackle organised crime where it is operating through high street shops and bringing down the high streets that residents want to see returned to vibrancy, as places that symbolise the life and heart of the communities they are part of.

I know the Secretary of State will agree that access to cash and banking services is an important part of vibrant high streets, particularly in market towns in North Yorkshire such as Stokesley. Will he join me in thanking Link for agreeing to representations by me and the local community to install a banking hub after the closure of the last bank branch in Stokesley? It will make an enormous difference to the local community. I know this is something that the Secretary of State is also passionate about, and we are all delighted to have that banking hub coming to Stokesley.

I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on the work he has done in his constituency on this issue, as well as those residents who have been advocating for the banking hub. Many businesses—particularly smaller businesses—and many older people who prefer not to access banking services digitally need a physical bank where they can go to hand in the money they are making or to take money out. We need banking hubs, and I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on the work he has led.

Cornish towns such as St Austell and Redruth desperately need support for their high streets, but Pride in Place criteria such as those on community cohesion and green spaces count against such towns. It is virtually impossible to be in Cornwall and not be close to green spaces. As those criteria are starting to be used across Departments, will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss how they are currently counting against areas such as Cornwall?

I am always happy to meet my hon. Friend, and indeed we do meet regularly. I am happy to continue doing that. We want to see high streets everywhere succeed. Pride in Place is a highly targeted programme, but we need to make an offer for high streets everywhere. I am sure he will welcome, as I do, the high street rental auctions programme that we are bringing in, backed by Government funding, to support communities to buy and use empty units. In that way, they can be put to purposes that the community wants to see, rather than lying empty as a blight on high streets.

I call the shadow Minister.

The Government came to office promising to support our high streets with a permanently lower regime of business rates, but the Department’s answers to written questions indicate that the Government expect a 22% rise in the business rate take over this Parliament. Can the Minister tell the House whether the 100,000 job losses in hospitality since the Government took office, or the 74,000 job losses in retail since the Government took office, have been impacted by the rise in business rates, or are they solely down to the Chancellor’s massive hike in national insurance?

The shadow Minister will be aware, as I am, that high streets went into steep decline under the previous Conservative Government. It is this Labour Government who are having to support those businesses and communities that want to fix them. We are carrying out long-overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system, and we have replaced the temporary relief that they offered with permanently lower tax rates that will support high streets to succeed into the future. As I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon), the high street rental auctions scheme, which includes Government funding, will support communities to bring empty units back into use so that they can be valuable places where communities can gather and meet, bringing footfall and therefore life back to our high streets.