🏬 Town Centres

• The debate focused on government support for town centres, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for revitalisation across the UK.
• Luke Murphy (Basingstoke, Labour) opened the debate, criticising past Conservative policies and their impact on high streets, including issues like business rates, energy supply, and retail crime.
• Key challenges mentioned included high vacancy rates, declining footfall, and the pressures of the cost of doing business, particularly affecting small businesses.
• Innovative solutions suggested included high street rental auctions, mixed-use developments, and supporting the night-time economy and live music to boost entrepreneurship.
• The importance of reliable public transport for increasing footfall was also discussed, alongside the need for infrastructure to support all travel modes.
• Alex Norris (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government) responded, outlining new government initiatives to support town centres.
• Government plans include empowering local authorities to address persistent vacancies, permanent tax cuts for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses from 2026-2027, and tackling late payments with a new fair payment code.
• To address energy costs, the government is promoting a shift towards home-grown, clean energy through Great British Energy and encouraging businesses to negotiate more affordable energy contracts.
• Public safety is a priority, with initiatives such as the neighbourhood policing guarantee, a zero tolerance approach to antisocial behaviour, and the introduction of respect orders.
• The government aims to support local growth with integrated funding settlements and plans to roll out banking hubs to increase town centre footfall.
• The debate concluded with a commitment from the government to work in partnership with businesses and local communities to revitalise town centres across the UK.

The disagreement level in this session is minimal, earning it a rating of 1 on a scale of 1 to 5. Throughout the debate, there is no explicit opposition or contradiction between speakers. Luke Murphy, the primary speaker, sets the stage by addressing multiple aspects of town centre support and invites interventions that generally agree with and support his points. The interventions from other Members, including those from different parties such as DUP, Alliance, and Liberal Democrats, are largely in agreement with the need for government support, although they may highlight different priorities or areas of focus. The Minister, Alex Norris, responds positively to the issues raised by Luke Murphy, outlining the Government’s plans and actions, which are received without challenge or significant disagreement. The session remains collaborative and solution-focused, with no heated debate or conflicting viewpoints emerging.