In the election last Summer, the British people made clear that they felt the country wasn’t working for them anymore. An overwhelming majority for our Labour Party, on a platform of ‘change’, was a call for more to be done to fix the problems they see every day.
Over the last year, it has become clear that if, by the time of the next election, they feel these problems haven’t been fixed, people will likely vote for change again. Our country deserves so much better than the reactionary rhetoric of Reform.
As a Labour Government focused on sustainable economic growth, rooted in fairness and social justice, we must therefore focus on improving those parts of our society that are most clearly letting people down.
Declining High Streets
Recent research suggests that declining town centres are one of the main drivers of support for insurgent politics, with empty shop units correlating almost directly with rising support for Reform. There are 172,000 empty commercial properties across the country – each one a reminder to local residents of a sluggish economy or vanishing local services.
Empty shops, shuttered pubs, and green spaces left unkempt are some of the starkest symbols imaginable that an area has been left behind. Even where shops are filled, there is an increasing sense that high streets aren’t working in the best interests of local residents. Instead, some landlords are chasing whatever can pay the rent, even if that just means yet another betting shop.
This is borne out by polling for the Royal Society for Public Health which shows that more than half of people think their high street doesn’t have enough shops selling healthy food, and one in three think they are lacking places to socialise with others – whether that is a café, safe outdoor space, or youth centre.
Spreading Best Practice
This week, the APPG for Healthy Places heard from the people on the front line of addressing these issues. There are places where local authorities, developers, and businesses are working together to do things better, but these remain isolated islands of good practice. Given the stark impact of declining high streets on both our economy and the wellbeing of local people, more needs to be done to turn every high street around.
Rooting their work in community empowerment, schemes such as One Kilburn have helped to breathe new life into town centres. Listening to local residents means that services meet their needs and drive the footfall which makes businesses sustainable.
Investing in Town Centres
We all know local government is under serious pressure. Asking them to fix this issue, with no new funding and no new powers, is asking them to perform miracles. Instead, we should be backing local politicians to not just put in place plans for their high streets, but giving them the tools they need to compel others to work with them. At the same time, targeted funding which is allocated based on community needs, not endless bids and reporting to civil servants in Whitehall, will work far better than the vanity projects of the last Government.
At the Spending Review next week, the Treasury needs to recognise the importance of this issue and to act. Local government might need to lead on revitalising our high streets, but they can only do this if they are given backing from National government. Serious, long-term investment in high streets and town centres can turn this around where the previous piecemeal funds favoured by the last Government failed.
If we are serious about delivering the change that we promised, then our mission needs to reach into the heart of our communities. Investing in our town centres builds growth, resilience, trust and hope back into the country that we serve.
