Oral Answers to Questions

Baggy Shanker Excerpts

Monday 23rd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

The hon. Member is right to talk about the importance of high streets. They are a barometer of how people feel that their communities and the nation is doing. We are committed to reviving high streets, and that means reimagining high streets, and working with communities through our high-street strategy to empower them to do that. We have the high-street rental auction, which is a way that we can get vacant premises up and running, alongside £150 million that we have announced with the strategy, so that places are able to reshape their high streets and ensure that they work for their communities.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

In Derby, we have heard concerns about the impact of food delivery drivers on our high streets and the city centre, particularly on St Peter’s Street. Will the Minister work across Departments to ensure that food delivery companies are operating safely on our high streets and in our city centres?

[Miatta Fahnbulleh]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. I am committed to working across Departments, and I am happy to meet him to hear the specifics of the issues on his high street, and to work with colleagues across Government to see how we respond to them.