Reed announces extra cash for High Street strategy
The government says it will put forward £150m to improve struggling town centres – although it does not yet know where the money will be spent.
Communities secretary Steve Reed said the support package would form the first steps of the government’s fledgling “High Streets Strategy”, which it says is aimed at supporting independent businesses and tackling town centre decline.
Specific details on what the new strategy might entail are scarce ahead of a planned launch later this year, with details on how funding will be allocated to specific places also set to be announced “in the coming months”. The government says the High Street improvement funds will be targeted to areas of greatest need.
However, a government spokesperson said the new policy would support more than a thousand local pubs, and help councils in England tackle a “proliferation” of vape stores and betting shops on the country’s High Streets.
Britain’s gambling industry has experienced an explosion in popularity since Tony Blair’s Labour Government launched sweeping deregulation in 2005, dramatically relaxing gambling laws in the UK.
In its 2024 manifesto, Kier Starmer promised that an incoming Labour government would be “committed to reducing gambling-related harm”, adding that the government would “reform gambling regulation, strengthening protections.”
The most recent statistics produced by the Gambling Commission show there are around 6,000 betting shops operating in the United Kingdom, down from around 8,300 in 2019.
Communities Secretary Steve Reed said: “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.”
