The accelerating trend of branch closures and declining numbers of free-to-use ATMs make it increasingly difficult for the old and vulnerable to access basic services.
The Government should empower local community organisations to take ownership of vacant and derelict high street property, so that they can bring them back into whatever use their economies need.
The Business Secretary stood outside a pub and proclaimed his support for vitality, prosperity and commerce.
Time and time again, voters bring up the same thing to me: the depressing state of their local high street.
Levelling-up can only work if the Prime Minister takes it so seriously they’re prepared to see most policy areas – or at least a good number of them – through the prism of it.
We’re calling time on badly-publicised rules, usurious fees, and other underhand tactics used to squeeze motorists.
Gove is ready to localise as much either as he wants to or as his colleagues will let him, or both. I hope it’s work in progress.
From business rates to statues, reviving the town high street is a key demand of working-class voters.
Plus: Sheffield Council is wasting high street improvements funding on PR. A glimmer of hope in Croydon.
The problem is that spiralling spending demands quickly use up the options which voters don’t notice. Eventually you need other big sources of revenue,
It would be easy to write off the attitude of both as ‘only little earthlings pay taxes’, but the current taxation system allows them to get away with it.
It now needs to get real. This is clearly the plan in the next few months, starting with the Queen’s Speech tomorrow, leading to the Levelling Up paper.
Amazon should not be allowed to further undermine the high street with soulless, automated shops that the public neither need nor want.
Providing local, flexible, workspaces could replace millions of daily commutes which only serve to harm the environment.
Excessively restrictive regulations, overstretched and obstructive council officials, and neglectful and absentee landlords are all barriers to creating a brighter, sustainable future for much-loved town centres.