In a bid to save our high streets, the UK Government has unveiled a massive cash injection to help ‘turn the tide on decline’ and restore the nation’s pride in their local area
High streets with boarded up shop fronts and lacking essentials such as butchers, grocers and bakeries are set for a £150 million boost.
In a bid to save our high streets, the UK Government has unveiled a massive cash injection to help “ turn the tide on decline ” and restore the nation’s pride in their local area. It forms part of the new High Streets Strategy, announced earlier this week, to help tackle the long-term challenges that our much-loved retail, leisure and hospitality businesses have faced.
Communities Secretary Steve Reed told the Sunday Mirror that the Tories had failed our high streets for 14 years. He said: “People want to know what happened to the high streets they remember, where they could meet friends for coffee, browse round the shops and feel part of a thriving community.
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“Now they see abandoned buildings, vape shops, bookies and empty streets and it feels like their area is failing. Over fourteen years the Tories looked away as areas became lifeless, and Reform aren’t offering anything apart from stoking anger and division. It’s up to Labour to reunite communities by putting local pride back at the heart of politics by bringing high streets back to life.”
The Mirror has long campaigned to Save Our High Streets, amid fears Britain was losing its label as a nation of shopkeepers. More details on the High Streets Strategy, including how funding will be allocated to specific places, will be announced in the coming months. The funding follows the new community right to buy through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, giving local people greater power to save valued community assets like sports clubs and pubs.
Mr Reed continued: “Our high streets are the beating heart of Britain — where communities come together and local businesses can grow. Town centres have suffered from high streets falling into decline, and that is why we’re taking action to turn the tide with this crucial investment and more to come.
“We have listened to what people are telling us and that’s why we’re giving them the power and control to breathe new life back into our high streets and restore the sense of pride communities feel, building on our transformational Pride in Place programme.”