We are supporting local shopping through targeted campaigns, business rates relief and programmes that help high streets adapt and thrive; and by backing initiatives that encourage people to shop locally. Initiatives such as Small Business Saturday highlight the vital role small firms play in their communities and help drive footfall to local shops.

Later this year we will bring forward a new High Streets Strategy, to reinvigorate our communities. We will work with businesses and representative bodies to pull this Strategy together. It will be a cross-government strategy, and we will be look at what more government can do to support our high streets.

We have reformed the Use Classes Order to provide greater flexibility to enable a wide range of uses which attract visiting members of the public, such as offices and shops for example, to change to other uses without the need for a planning application.

BEIS does not hold this data but in 2019 the Local Data Company’s report on Retail & Leisure Market vacancies put the 1 year+ vacancy rate at 7.4%. ONS data indicates that there were nearly 320,000 retail units in the UK in 2019 which suggests around 22,700 stores had been vacant for a year or more. This represents the most recent estimate available.

In order to mitigate against a rise in the number of vacant units, the Government has introduced a range of measures to protect businesses that are struggling to pay their rent due to Covid-19. We have extended the moratorium on commercial landlords’ right to forfeiture for the non-payment of rent to the 25 March 2022 and we will introduce legislation to help landlords and tenants resolve historic Covid-19 rent debt through binding arbitration if necessary.

We continue to reduce the financial burden on retailers by providing eligible retail properties in England with 66% business rates relief for the period from 1 July 2021 to 31 March 2022, capped at £2 million per business for properties that were required to be closed on 5 January 2021, or £105,000 per business for other eligible properties.

The Government are supporting these businesses through new restart grants—a one-off cash grant of up to £6,000 per business premises for non-essential

retailers in England—and up to £18,000 for hospitality and leisure businesses. They will also benefit from a five-month extension of the coronavirus job retention scheme, a further 12 months’ relief from business rates and a new UK-wide recovery loan scheme. Tony’s Deli, which my hon. Friend mentioned, and other businesses serving hot food can also enjoy a 12-month VAT cut at 5% until the end of September, and at 12.5% until the end of March.

This Government is fully committed to supporting the businesses and communities that make our high streets and town centres successful as the nation responds to the impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Since March, the Government has implemented a range of measures to support commercial property tenants, and help prevent further empty shops. The objective of these measures is to preserve tenants’ businesses through the Covid-19 pandemic and to give time and space to landlords and tenants to agree reasonable adjustments to rent and lease terms, including terms for the payment of accumulated rent arrears.

Our immediate response to Covid-19 builds on an ongoing programme of interventions. This includes the £3.6 billion Towns Fund, where we brought forward over £80 million funding this year to support immediate improvements in 101 towns selected for deals. Wolverhampton is shortlisted for the Future High Streets Fund, and was one of 101 towns invited to put together proposals for a town deal.

Government is also providing support through the High Streets Task Force, helping places like Wolverhampton to develop data-driven innovative strategies to tackle issues such as empty properties and connect with relevant experts. The High Streets Task Force is rolling out its expert, training and data offer across the country, and has launched a range of online support.

Government has also recently consulted on further reforms to planning procedures in town centres as set out in the white paper ‘Planning for the Future’, which sets out how Government will streamline and modernise the planning process to be more responsive to community needs and provide more homes in and around town centres and high streets.