VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Mayor urged to take over vacant shops to revitalise high streets
23/04/2025 The Mayor of London has been urged to provide more ‘financial and practical’ support to help drive high street regeneration across the capital. |
Heritage-led high streets regeneration brings in £245m
18/03/2025 Heritage-led regeneration can help revive struggling high streets and redefine how local authorities revitalise town centres, according to Historic England. |
Consultation launched on Oxford Street pedestrianisation
03/03/2025 Mayor Sadiq Khan has launched a public consultation on what is billed as the ‘biggest transformation of Oxford Street in history’. |
London’s high streets get £21m regeneration boost
28/02/2025 London’s high streets are to benefit from £21m additional funding this year aimed at regenerating the capital’s high streets. |
Parking charges driving people away from high street
25/02/2025 Almost two thirds of drivers are put off visiting their local high street due to parking charges, a new survey has revealed. |
Regeneration: Reviving our town centres
21/01/2025 Rowenna Davis, associate partner at Global Future Foundation, sets out 12 principles for reviving our town centres. |
High street businesses brace for business rates hike
21/01/2025 Thousands of high street businesses are set to see their rates bill more than double this year, financial experts warn. |
37 shops lost each day in 2024, data suggests
02/01/2025 Almost 13,500 retail stores in the UK closed for good last year, equivalent to about 37 shops a day, new data has found. |
M&S triumphant after three-year demolition bid
06/12/2024 Oxford Street’s M&S store can be demolished, the Government has ruled, more than three years after the retailer submitted plans to rebuild the flagship shop. |
Councils empowered to auction off leases
04/12/2024 The Government has handed councils new powers to tackle the empty shop scourge and revitalise high streets. |
New powers for councils to tackle empty shops
12/11/2024 Local authorities will get new powers next month to force landlords to rent out persistently empty high street properties. |
Councils raise £1bn in parking fees
25/10/2024 Local authorities across England collectively raised just over £1bn in parking fees and charges for the 2023/24 financial year, a new study has found. |
Reviving Poole's Heritage: Illuminating the High Street
20/05/2024 Acrospire worked with BCP Council to upgrade Poole High Street's Heritage Lighting to LED, resulting in a 74% reduction in energy consumption. |
Labour set out plan to ‘breathe new life’ into high streets
10/04/2024 Labour has announced a five-point plan that it argues could ‘breathe new life’ into high streets. |
Lib Dems pledge to scrap business rates
09/04/2024 The Liberal Democrats would deliver tax reforms to ‘revive struggling high streets’, leader Ed Davey will announce today. |
High Court overrules Gove on M&S demolition
04/03/2024 The Government’s decision to block Marks & Spencer’s plans to demolish and redevelop its flagship central London store was unlawful, the High Court has ruled. |
Community Ownership: defending the assets that matter most
16/01/2024 Co-operative Party General Secretary, Joe Fortune, explains how community ownership can help revive the struggling British high street. |
Fund to go to town centre 'champions'
19/12/2023 New guidance for the government’s £1.1bn ‘long term plan for towns’ has confirmed the boards in charge of spending the cash should be led by a local independent chair who will act as a ‘champion’ for the town. |
Air pollution in most high streets exceeds guidelines, study finds
12/12/2023 Most of Britain’s biggest high streets have air pollution levels above World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations, according to a new study. |
Labour to crackdown on anti-social behaviour
10/10/2023 Labour leader Keir Starmer will today promise local authorities stronger powers to tackle anti-social behaviour in town centres. |
High street facing ‘terminal decline’, union warns
09/10/2023 The high street may be facing a ‘terminal decline’ as more than 420,000 traditional retail jobs have been lost since 2010, the union GMB has warned. |
Council buys £14m shopping centre
04/10/2023 Fareham Borough Council has spent £14m acquiring the town’s high street shopping centre and adjoining properties. |
Fifty-five ‘left-behind’ towns to share £1bn
02/10/2023 Fifty-five towns across the UK are set to benefit from a £1.1bn levelling up investment, the Prime Minister has announced. |
Council signs deal for Oxford Street revamp
14/09/2023 Westminster City Council has signed a new agreement and approved the next stage of a £90m investment in Oxford Street this week. |
Street Manager limitations cost councils millions
08/09/2023 The Local Government Association has released a report it buried three years ago covering the financial impact of the Government's Street Manager software. |
Lords inflict defeats on levelling up Bill
05/09/2023 The Government faces a race against time to get its flagship levelling up Bill into law after peers inflicted a string of defeats. |
Councils need ‘cohesive plan’ after loss of 6,000 stores
28/07/2023 British Retail Consortium found that Britain lost 6,000 shops in five years and warned that councils must make a ‘cohesive plan’ to revive shopping areas. |
Gove blocks M&S plans to rebuild Marble Arch store
21/07/2023 Michael Gove has ruled that Marks & Spencer cannot demolish and redevelop its flagship central London store. |
Hull plans ‘innovative’ box park venue
18/07/2023 Hull CC will consider developing a ‘box park’ site on what is currently waste land, with the aim of attracting visitors to the city centre and creating jobs. |
Ipswich unveils plans to improve town
11/07/2023 Ipswich Borough Council has unveiled its new draft corporate strategy, which aims to create a ‘prosperous and sustainable future’ for the borough. |
Council unveils plans to make Carlisle ‘more vibrant’
01/06/2023 Cumberland Council has unveiled plans to make Carlisle city centre ‘more vibrant and welcoming’. |
Westminster council takes on tax avoiding candy stores
25/05/2023 Westminster City Council has declared war on US-style candy and souvenir stores that are failing to pay business rates or selling illegal or unsafe goods. |
North East has highest percentage of empty shops
10/05/2023 The North East has the highest percentage of empty high street shops in Britain, a new study has revealed. |
Labour pledges to revitalise high streets
12/04/2023 Labour will today promote its plan to revitalise ailing high streets through a £700m fund to help small businesses with soaring energy bills. |
Toolkit to level up high street published
27/09/2022 Local authorities will have to prove ‘adept’ in making use of the tools and resources at their disposal if high streets are going to survive, think tank says. |
New £350m fund could help communities revive high streets
10/08/2022 A new study has called for the creation of a fund that can help local communities takeover empty high street buildings as a record number of shops stand empty. |
New litter guidance published
09/08/2022 The Government has published new guidance clarifying the powers that local authorities have to crack down on littering. |
How art can rejuvenate the High Street by guiding footfall
07/07/2022 Chloe Brown outlines how East Staffordshire Borough Council is using art and cultural activities to bring more visitors to its town centres. |
Five high streets join pilot to boost local business
13/06/2022 Five high streets have been chosen to join a pilot scheme aimed at supporting local businesses and reviving town centres. |
Improve town centres and connectivity to ‘level up’, says think tank
07/06/2022 Levelling up should focus on improving town centres and connectivity, and ensuring there is a high quality of low skilled jobs available, think tank says. |
Councils green light over 16,000 street parties ahead of Queen’s Jubilee
30/05/2022 Local authorities have approved tens of thousands of Platinum Jubilee street parties across the country, the Local Government Association (LGA) says. |
Council chiefs call for locally led pavement licensing regime
09/05/2022 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to introduce a permanent but locally led pavement licensing regime for cafés and bars. |
Nearly 40% of electorate prioritising affordable housing in local elections
21/04/2022 Four in 10 Britons say affordable decent housing needs to be improved ahead of the local elections, a new poll reveals. |
Call to rescue 'cathedrals of commerce'
05/04/2022 A new report has warned that 18 of the UK’s most significant department store buildings could be permanently lost due to changes in shopping habits and the impact of the pandemic. |
Council confirms deal to purchase town centre building
15/03/2022 North Lanarkshire Council has confirmed that it has agreed a deal in principle to purchase The Centre Cumbernauld. |
City centres lose nearly a years’ worth of sales due to COVID-19
24/01/2022 Businesses in city and large town centres have lost more than a third (35%) of their potential takings due to COVID-19, think tank finds. |
Middlesbrough Council purchases £12m shopping centre
12/01/2022 Middlesbrough Council has acquired a multi-million-pound shopping centre as part of a drive to secure the town centre's long-term future. |
Survey reveals key strategies for town centre ‘renaissance’
06/01/2022 An independent retail offer, a programme of cultural events and family-friendly activities are the key strategies for successful town centres, research finds. |
Communities can stop high streets becoming ghosts of Christmas past
23/12/2021 Vidhya Alakeson, CEO, Power to Change and member of the Government’s High Streets Taskforce, loosk at how to save the high street. |
Council publishes £250m plan to revitalise Blackburn
17/12/2021 Blackburn with Darwen Council has published a £250m draft plan for developing Blackburn town centre over the next decade. |
Labour promises to scrap business rates
27/09/2021 Labour has announced that it plans to scrap business rates to make the taxation system fairer and to help revive the high street after the pandemic. |
Al fresco dining in Westminster set to continue post-lockdown
17/09/2021 Westminster City Council has decided to continue supporting a number of outdoor dining schemes after a positive response to al fresco dining from locals. |
Welsh councils must provide ‘ambitious leadership’ to revive high street
02/09/2021 Local authorities in Wales have been urged to use their existing powers and resources to make town centres sustainable. |
Business rates system 'discourages shift to net zero'
31/08/2021 Small firms have written to the Government warning that the business rates system is a disincentive to invest in net zero and employee wellbeing measures. |
Council’s deputy leader resigns over spiralling Marble Arch Mound costs
13/08/2021 Westminster City Council’s deputy leader has resigned as the cost of the Marble Arch Mound almost doubles. |
Retailers tell Government to fix ‘broken’ business rates system
10/08/2021 Retailers have urged the Government to reform the business rates system as part of the effort to help high streets recover from the pandemic. |
Planning reforms 80% of shops on high streets could be lost
02/08/2021 New research has warned 80% of shops and other commercial premises on high streets across England could be lost under the expansion of permitted development rights. |
Small businesses took on five times more debt during pandemic
16/07/2021 Independent businesses offer placemakers an opportunity to create a unique experience but need the support of central and local government, report says. |
Report outlines ‘innovative strategies’ for reviving town centres
16/07/2021 A new report has identified the ‘innovative strategies’ northern towns can draw on in order to revive struggling town centres. |
Al fresco dining to boost high street recover
16/07/2021 The Government has announced plans to make al fresco dining easier to help pubs, restaurants and cafes on the high street recover after the pandemic. |
High street regeneration to be key part of PM's levelling up agenda
12/07/2021 The Prime Minister will set out his 'levelling up' plans later this week, including unveiling a new High Streets Strategy. |
High streets: The heartbeats of our towns
28/06/2021 Tim Byles explores why a successful high street today may look a lot like the high street of the 1920s. |
Report calls for greater council powers to protect future of high street
26/05/2021 Councils and local communities should be given more power to decide the future of their high streets, a new report has argued today. |
A further 57 high streets chosen for £830m funding boost
19/05/2021 The Prime Minister has announced 57 high streets in England will share over £830m to help them reopen and recover from the pandemic. |
Scrap permitted development rights, council chiefs say
17/05/2021 Office blocks left empty following the pandemic risk being turned into substandard housing because of permitted development rights (PDRs), council chiefs say. |
Chelmsford sees largest increase in footfall since easing of lockdown
21/04/2021 Chelmsford has seen the largest increase in footfall since non-essential stores opened earlier this month, but Exeter is where people are going into shops. |
Controversial planning laws threaten to do ‘more harm than good’
31/03/2021 New planning laws coming into force today will allow commercial premises to be converted into homes without requiring a full planning application. |
'Welcome back' fund launched for high streets and coastal areas
22/03/2021 Councils will receive £56m to help high streets and seaside resorts open safely this summer. |
Budget 2021: Sunak freezes VAT rate to support hospitality and tourism
03/03/2021 Support for hospitality and tourism businesses was underpinned in the Budget by a freezing of the current 5% rate of VAT for another six months until the end of September. |
Labour calls for council powers to intervene in high streets
25/02/2021 Proposals for councils to take over empty shops and a ‘wholesale reform’ of business rates have been put forward by Labour. |
What do we want our high streets to look like next Christmas?
05/01/2021 Vidhya Alakeson argues that community businesses provide a tremendous opportunity to create vibrant and resilient high streets and communities. |
Jenrick announces £830m high street investment
04/01/2021 The Government has announced that millions of pounds of funding will be invested in 72 areas across England as part of the effort to help high streets recover from the impact of the pandemic. |
Shops to open longer in run up to Christmas
01/12/2020 Retailers will be able to extend their daily opening hours from Monday to Saturday in the run up to Christmas and through January, the communities secretary has announced. |
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Councils urged to provide free parking over the Christmas period
30/11/2020 Town hall chiefs have rejected calls that all local councils should provide free town centre parking over the festive period. |
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Community ownership is key to revival of high street, says report
01/10/2020 Councils have been urged to help local communities take ownership of empty buildings in order to secure the future of Britain’s high streets. |
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Open for business
23/09/2020 Andrew Knowles and Leena Gillespie explain how local authorities can reshape the future of Britain’s challenged high street. |
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Government should provide £500m arts resilience fund, says study
08/09/2020 The Government should devolve power over arts funding to councils and make a resilience fund available to support art and culture in local areas, report says. |
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Turn high street shops into new homes, urges report
22/07/2020 The Government should stop trying to slow the ‘inevitable’ decline of the high street and instead embrace new ways of saving urban centres, a new paper has argued. |
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Government announces measures to prevent company evictions
19/06/2020 The Government has extended measures to prevent struggling companies from eviction over the summer until the end of September. |
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New £50m fund to help councils open high streets safely
26/05/2020 Councils will have access to a £50m fund to help prepare for the safe reopening of high streets and other retail spaces. |
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A tipping point for town centres?
16/04/2020 Nigel Wilcock warns that many town centre businesses are now probably terminally damaged – and genuine change will be essential. |
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Repurposing town centres
26/03/2020 Phil Mayall explains why local authority intervention is key to successful urban regeneration schemes. |
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Councillors look abroad to learn how to ‘deliver a high street renaissance’
07/02/2020 District councils are looking to Belgium for ideas about how to revitalize town centres. |
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Welsh village home of the UK’s ‘best high street’
24/01/2020 Treorchy High Street in the Rhondda Valley has been crowned the UK’s best in this year’s Great British High Street Awards. |
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Think tank warns red tape is ‘strangling’ the high street
17/01/2020 National planning guidelines and local plans are failing to revitalise the high street, a new report by a think tank has warned. |
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Pilot areas announced as part of effort to ‘rejuvenate’ high streets
02/01/2020 The Government has announced 14 new pilot areas that will receive tailored expert support to assist in rejuvenating their town centres. |
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Report highlights nine inspirational towns
29/11/2019 A collection of case studies to show how towns can prevent decline and create new opportunities for change has been published. |
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Retail, High Streets and Business Rates
07/11/2019 John Orchard argues the time has come to ignore the hyperbole surrounding business rates. |
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High street hit as retail employment falls by 85,000
24/10/2019 ‘Weak’ consumer demand and ‘Brexit uncertainty’ have been blamed for the decline of the high street as figures reveal thousands of retail jobs have been lost. |
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Stockton’s reinvention of the high street
11/10/2019 A town in the North East with a proud industrial heritage is steaming forward into the 21st century with a bold and highly successful regeneration initiative. |
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Whitehall launches £95m high street fund
16/09/2019 The high streets that will benefit from a £95m Government fund have been identified. |
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High streets see ‘record decline’ in shops as 16 close each day
11/09/2019 High streets have been hit hard this year with a record decline in store numbers being recorded for the first half of 2019. |
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Government increases high street fund to £1bn
27/08/2019 The Government has announced 50 more towns will be eligible to bid for a share of funding to revitalise their high street. |
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Labour announce plans to ‘revive’ high street
19/08/2019 A Labour Government would give councils the power to reopen abandoned shops to ‘revive Britain’s struggling high streets’, it was announced over the weekend. |
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High street retailers call for reform of ‘broken’ business rates
13/08/2019 Over 50 high street retailers have signed a letter calling on Chancellor Sajid Javid to reform the business rates system. |
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Around 50 towns to benefit from multi-million pound high street fund
08/07/2019 The Government has announced the second phase of a multi-million pound fund designed to ‘transform’ high streets across the country. |
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Minister announces £100,000 to boost town centres
02/07/2019 High Streets Minister Jake Berry has announced the latest round of funding to make shopping centres more attractive to business. |
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Protecting town centres
10/06/2019 Debenhams CVA: Josh Myerson and Andrew Haughey explain what councils and local authorities can do to protect their town centres. |
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Mayor calls for creation of 'free trade zones' in city centres
05/06/2019 West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has called for a 'wholesale review' of the business rates system to save struggling high streets. |
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£62m fund to regenerate historic high streets
20/05/2019 The culture secretary has said that a new £62m fund will ‘breathe new life’ into historic high streets across the country. |
