Jessica Toale

This is an important moment for our high streets and our local communities. The debate has been a real tour de force of our great towns, and I have been blown away by the passionate stories I have heard. We have heard nostalgia about towns as they once were, but also passion for the future and for what our towns can be. I share a lot of the pain that Members have expressed about our towns, but I know that there is potential in this policy, and the other measures that the Government are bringing in, to think about how we can make town centres work again, and how we can support and promote our local businesses and community spaces. I thank everybody for taking part. I thank the Minister for addressing Members’ questions, as well as outlining the wider context of the situation that we are in and the Government’s wider range of reforms to support our small businesses: community right to buy, policing reforms, direct support to businesses —it all adds up and makes a difference. I thank her for her offer to continue to work with local authorities to make this scheme work. Many of us are eager to see it implemented, and I know that many of us are eager for our residents to see the real transformation that a Labour Government can bring about for our town centres. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered Government policy on high street rental auctions.