One of the things I have missed most during the lockdown has been the ability to stroll into the Town Centre and meet friends in coffee shops, mooch around the shops, and spend a little of my hard earned cash, perhaps go for a pint. It is both enjoyable and it supports local traders. One of the all too rare win win situations.
Returning to those simple pleasures has been given by many people in surveys after survey as being one of the things people are most looking forward to when the pandemic has passed. Using the High Street would, for many people, be emblematic of things returning to “normal”.
The reality is that our High Street were in decline, even before the pandemic, and the decline was accelerating. Covid-19 and repeated lockdowns has not helped of course, but our High Streets have been losing out to competition from online retailers, out of town shopping centres, extended periods of reducing household income leading to a softening of demand, increases to rents and business rates on town centre premises, reduced footfall thanks to the loss of amenities such as bank branch closures, ATMs etc
Shops that have been on our High Streets for decades are closing their doors and leaving gaping holes where we used to shop, leaving many retail workers without a job or proper pension. The local Anchor Institutions such as pubs, post offices, and tea shops are disappearing
The outlook for our High Streets and Town Centres seems grim. In the town where I live, Tamworth, the Town Centre has been in decline for many years and we have lost most of the thriving market that used to come in on Saturdays. We have been given a grant to upgrade the Town Centre which gives hope of a revival, but many other places have not been so fortunate.
However, I would argue that the power to protect and revive our high streets, to build our High Streets back better, may be in our own hands. If we can draw on the lessons from the history of the Cooperative movement and apply them to our communities and town centres today.
The co-operative movement grew from the shop floor and played an active role on many high streets, from the co-operative supermarkets selling good quality food and providing post office services, to the communities coming together to rescue their local pub and credit unions continuing to provide financial services after the last bank has left town. We can do it again now.
In some communities today, people are coming together to develop community-owned models for their town centres, ensuring shopfronts don’t stay shuttered and supporting businesses and organisations which will benefit and invest in their neighbourhood. From community pubs to saving the local post office, when people come together it is possible to have a positive impact on the place you live.
We are seeing that High Street retailers are struggling to compete with online retailers who are able to provide the same products for less because of not having to pay rents or business rates. This has been exacerbated by the pandemic, more and more is being ordered online and delivered to people’s homes. We can change things, level the playing field.
The reality is that the tax system has simply not kept up with these changes to consumer habits. Perhaps we could introduce something like an online sales or transaction tax, or have VAT differentiating between in-store and online sales, helping to create a more level playing field between online and bricks-and-mortar business.
I have argued that the local Anchor Institutions, the glue that holds the high street together, from post offices to pubs, are too often at risk of closure. While the Localism Act contains important powers for local communities to play a key role to play in the preservation and delivery of local assets and services outside of local authority control, it needs to be strengthened.
Business rates should be scrapped in favour of a more progressive, much fairer form of business taxation including a land value tax. Until this happens, the tax should urgently be reduced and reformed. High street retailers should not be penalised for offering services to the community such as a free ATM, for example.
ATMs are closing at a rate of about 300 a month, and there are over 3,000 communities in the UK that no longer have a single bank branch, especially in smaller towns. These are essential local assets for communities, especially those who are digitally excluded and for SMEs who rely on local branches to manage their business banking.
We should be considering the introduction of a new Access to Banking Standard supervised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Failure to ensure access could perhaps result in fines when banks fail to uphold that standard. The monies raised by the fines could be used to spend on financial inclusion initiatives such as the development of credit unions.
Our Town Centres are so important in terms of generating a sense of place, civic participation and pride, community cohesion and local employment. Working together businesses, communities, co-operatives and local councils can tackle the blight of empty shops and develop thriving and inclusive places where people want to go and spend time.
All it needs is the collective will to do so.
Chris Bain 