High Streets

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Tuesday 30th June 2026 Westminster Hall

[Mr Campbell]

I agree. If we are to see the clampdown that the Home Secretary has outlined, as I hope we do, the problems that we are discussing will not get better in the short term. There will be more vacant shops, because illegal shops will be put out of business. That is a good thing, but we need to ensure that there is no gap and we need to get life back into our town centres.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

We are talking about vacant shops, but there is also a lot of antisocial behaviour on our high streets, which in some cases is largely due to the existence of vacant shops. I was speaking to the headteacher of a school in Glastonbury that is based just off the high street. The children there are already vulnerable; they are being exposed to violence and antisocial behaviour on the way to school, and teachers cannot get into school safely because there are altercations and violent incidents daily. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the current arrangements for managing some prolific and repeat offenders are simply not working, and that we need to make our high streets a safer place?

[Mr Campbell]

Yes, I agree, and I will come on to that point. If we make our high streets more attractive to families, to shoppers and to those who live and work in town centres, the vacuum that enables antisocial behaviour will reduce as we increase the number of people in town centres.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nesil Caliskan]

I know my hon. Friend’s area well, and she does good work not only to champion it but to campaign for improvement. She is absolutely right: if local communities have a real say, and that is coupled with backing from central Government, we can see real progress in our high streets and towns. That is important not only for local communities to feel ownership and pride; it is also crucial for employment. High streets are often where young people go for their first jobs. Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the local economy for many towns, so being able to support high streets, including through the high streets strategy, is a crucial part of the Government’s agenda.

The hon. Member for East Londonderry was absolutely right to talk about the opportunity to relocate public services to high streets, which could improve the accessibility of those public services, as well as drive footfall and boost vibrancy. Many places are already doing that effectively.

[Sarah Dyke]

The Minister is talking about driving footfall, but driving footfall in rural areas is sometimes quite difficult because of the sparsity. Rural high streets face significant challenges—if car parking charges are forced on our local authorities, for example. Will the Minister outline what specific support she is putting in place to help our rural high streets to thrive?

[Nesil Caliskan]

On car parks in particular, a review is under way; I am happy to write to the hon. Member to set out timelines for when we will have the responses.

The point about rural communities is important, which is exactly why the Government are committing to making sure that while we do what we can from central Government, we really allow communities to shape their own services locally. The density point is important, particularly for rural communities. Banking hubs, for example, have been a real lifeline for communities that have had no banks in their area. As a Government, we have committed to almost 300 hubs; more than 230 have already opened. It is important that we commit to more initiatives like that, so that high streets get the support that they need.

As I say, there are good examples of public services locations. Barnsley, for instance, has opened a community diagnostic centre in its Glass Works shopping centre; that has led to more screenings and fewer missed appointments, and has brought a £3 million boost to the local economy. I could list many examples from across the country that really make the point that the relationship between the relocation of public services and our high streets can be a powerful tool in regenerating our high streets. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been working closely with other Government Departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care, to encourage them to roll out like health centres in other locations.

I recognise that we have to go further. With local community leaders, we have to think about how central Government can be more strategic and purposeful and how we can support those leaders to deliver locally. We have to work with local government and mayoral strategic authorities so that devolution and reorganisation can lead to tangible improvements on high streets.

Local capacity is an issue for local authorities, which is why MHCLG is committed to supporting local councils to shape high streets in a way that works for local residents. We are bringing vacant shops back into use and tackling the perverse incentive that makes shops remain empty. As I said, high street rental auctions have already proved successful—we have been oversubscribed, which is why we are expanding the programme. We are supporting local authorities by upskilling local authority officers so that they can use compulsory purchase order powers to bring landlords to the table, enabling more transformational change for areas that have a particular problem with empty shops. The national planning policy framework is playing a role in some of that work, too.

Finally, I will address business rates. Many retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are grappling with rising costs. We are committed to supporting high street businesses so that they can compete with online and out-of-town alternatives. Most of that is about appropriate place making, but we are also reducing the burden of business rates on independent high street businesses and introducing permanently lower business rate multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure properties, giving greater certainty and long-term support. The new multipliers are worth £1 billion per year, will benefit more than 750,000 properties and will give long-term certainty and support to high streets.

I thank Members for their contributions. I recognise that high streets are a topic that people feel passionate about, and rightly so. They are intrinsic to constituents’ identity and local place. I thank the hon. Member for East Londonderry again for securing the debate.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Monday 13th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Matthew Pennycook]

I can assure my hon. Friend that I have looked at a wealth of evidence, particularly international evidence, of what the impact of first and second-generation rent controls are, as well as more subtle forms of rent control, which can have differential impacts on different groups. Such controls typically benefit settled and better-off tenants more than those looking for a home or needing to move. While I appreciate that a broad spectrum of regulation falls under the title, there is enough international evidence, in the Government’s view, to attest to the potential detrimental impacts of rent controls, and our position remains that we will not introduce them.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Steve Reed)]

The Renters Rights Act 2025 meets Labour’s manifesto commitment to transform the experience of private renting in England. We will introduce our reforms in three phases, the first of which will begin on 1 May, when section 21 no-fault evictions will be abolished and rent increases will be limited to just one a year. We will end rental bidding wars and limit requests for rent in advance to a maximum of one month, and it will be illegal to discriminate against prospective renters who have children or who receive benefits. These are the biggest reforms in the rental sector for a generation. The Tories and Reform UK voted against them and the Greens want to abolish renting, but this Labour Government stand firmly on the side of renters.

[Sarah Dyke]

The availability of affordable housing in Somerset has plummeted, demand has surged and rents have risen by six times as much as income. These challenges are highlighted in rural market towns such as Glastonbury, where hundreds of people live in vans and caravans lining the kerbsides. Many are there because they cannot afford to rent a bricks-and-mortar home. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that everyone has a decent and safe place where they can afford to live?

[Steve Reed]

Ensuring that there are decent and safe places to live all across this country is a primary objective of this Government. As the hon. Lady will be aware, the social and affordable homes programme opened for bids in February, and the first phase of bidding will close later in April. The programme will provide up to £39 billion for the biggest ever increase in the amount of social and affordable housing across this country, including council housing, which will make a massive difference to people in rural areas as well as those in other parts of the country.

Women’s Safety in Rural Areas

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Tuesday 24th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Anna Sabine]

That sounds like an excellent scheme. We have a similar one in Frome that I commend to the House.

In rural areas, most of the questions I just asked do not even apply. There may not be street lighting, there are no taxis and, as in swathes of my constituency, there is no mobile phone signal.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

My hon. Friend talks about appropriate lighting. I am a keen cyclist, as are lots of women in rural areas, and 59% of women who cycle say they are really worried about their journeys and have huge safety concerns as a result. Last October, Langport cycling club took part in a glow ride to raise awareness of the need for enhanced levels of safety and visibility for women, particularly when they are cycling at night. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government must update the design guidance to include stronger standards for appropriate lighting in rural areas, to improve women’s safety?

[Anna Sabine]

Certainly. That sounds excellent and I will come to lots of nerdy points about design guidance in due course.

My constituency of Frome and East Somerset is, by any measure, a beautiful part of England. It is also a place where the challenges I am describing are felt with particular intensity. Inspired by Holly, last autumn I launched a survey to hear directly from women in my constituency about how safe they feel. Their responses were sobering. Women wrote about being followed on dark country lanes that had no street lighting; about waiting for buses on isolated roads with no shelter, no CCTV and no way of summoning help; about giving up running and cycling all together, not because they lacked the inclination but because they simply did not feel safe doing so; and about the constant, exhausting vigilance required just to get home.

Coincidentally, earlier this year I was contacted separately by a brilliant urban designer called Natasha, who drew my attention to the fact that the Government have set out an excellent strategy to combat violence against women and girls, and a national planning policy framework, but at the moment the two things make no reference to each other, which is a shocking oversight.

Local Government Reorganisation

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Thursday 22nd January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are proceeding with this reorganisation in order to eliminate duplication and the cost of that waste, so that the money can be spent on frontline services instead. I have asked councils for their views on whether postponement would speed up their ability to carry out the reorganisation and get the new, streamlined councils off the ground, and I have responded to their representations.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

Somerset underwent local government reorganisation during the last Parliament, with an independent report citing that the Conservative administration’s business case was marked by poor decision making, while its reckless decision to freeze council tax for six years has seen over £330 million in lost revenue. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that new unitary councils, such as Somerset, are put on a fair financial footing? Will he reconsider the decision to remove the remoteness uplift, which will force councils to consider cuts to vital services?

Local Government Finance

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

My hon. Friend is not just a former deputy leader of Milton Keynes city council; she has become a fantastic champion of that great city since coming to this House. If she wants to meet to talk about fast-growing cities and building homes, I will be there all day.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

One fifth of the UK population live in rural areas. They face unavoidable additional costs, including longer travel times, reduced provider competition and workforce recruitment. Those costs have an impact on every single aspect of local service delivery, but funding formulas fail to adequately recognise rurality, putting additional pressure on the vital services that residents in Glastonbury and Somerton rely on. Does the Minister accept that additional cost pressures are linked to geography and sparsity, and will she outline what steps are being taken to support large rural councils such as Somerset to manage these funding gaps?

[Alison McGovern]

The hon. Lady asked if I recognise that issue, and I have already said several times that I do, as well as setting out some of the steps that we are taking to address it. As I said, I will happily work with hon. Members on both sides of the House to take local authorities, wherever they are, on a journey towards sustainability.

National Plan to End Homelessness

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Thursday 11th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question, which is a really important one. She will know that the Department for Education is introducing the unique identifier, which is at the core of the data we need to track this properly. On an ambition for the number of days lost, in an ideal world it would be zero. We need to get the work with the DfE under way and plot a course through the action plan over the coming weeks and months to get the numbers reduced significantly.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

Glastonbury has the highest density of van dwellers in the UK, with around 300 people living in caravans. While some do choose this as a way of life, many are vulnerable or simply cannot afford to pay rent. They deserve a proper roof over their heads, as many of these caravans are simply not fit for accommodation. What considerations has the Minister made in this strategy to support those being exploited by unscrupulous van lords in this unregulated market? Will she meet me to discuss this ongoing crisis?

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the hon. Lady for her input into the strategy on behalf of her constituents. I would be happy to arrange a meeting.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Monday 24th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

My hon. Friend is an expert in these matters. She knows that the Secretary of State has taken recent steps to make sure that we do build homes, including social and affordable homes, in London. We will certainly work very closely with her, and with the information she mentions, to get homes built.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

There are nearly 300 households in temporary accommodation in Somerset, and 120 of them include children. Somerset is spending nearly £3.4 million per year on additional temporary accommodation to help to meet that demand, but it is clear that a long-term solution must be supported. What steps is the Minister taking to increase the number of affordable homes to help address that situation?

[Alison McGovern]

The homelessness strategy will be published soon, so the hon. Lady does not have long to wait. She characterises the situation well. We can fund sticking plasters and we can fund help, but in the end we have to get to the heart of the matter: No. 1—build homes; No. 2—make sure that families have enough money coming in to pay the rent. That will be at the heart of our strategy.

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Report stage
Monday 24th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Tom Gordon]

I rise to speak to new clause 28. I thank my Liberal Democrat colleagues who tabled a similar amendment in Committee.

New clause 28 would effectively allow a new form of regional governance. One thing that frustrates me at the moment—it is quite bonkers from a fairness perspective—is that Yorkshire has almost the population of Scotland, the economy of Wales, and a strong sense of identity, but unlike those countries, we do not have anywhere near the level of power. For too long, Westminster has handed Yorkshire crumbs and called it a settlement. There has been lots of talk this evening about regional mayors and powers, but Yorkshire was technically chopped into four different constituent components. Westminster has taken our ability to build across the region and be the real powerhouse that we could be.

My new clause would allow the creation of a Yorkshire regional body, on a par with Scotland and Wales, and empower it with provision of health, education and transport. That would stop holding Yorkshire back and give us Yorkshire folk the tools to do what we know we need to do for our areas. Put simply, it would give Yorkshire solutions to Yorkshire problems.

Currently, the mayoral arrangements across the area are disparate and vary wildly. The Labour Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, has been elected twice on the promise of delivering a franchising of buses, which is yet to happen. We recently got a new mayor for York and North Yorkshire, but we are yet to see any meaningful investment on the ground for local people. I do not want mayors who are empowered to be glorified lobbyists in Westminster and Whitehall; I want to see real regional forms of government that empower people on the ground. Compared with other European countries that have meaningful forms of devolution and regional governance, we have a democratic deficit, so why not think big?

On transport, we need to integrate across the entirety of Yorkshire—a transport for Yorkshire that does not simply stop at the borders of West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Investment in mass transit for Leeds, for example, involves the West Yorkshire area. People who live in my Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency commute, work and learn there, so giving a new regional body that power over transport would make sense. If Yorkshire had those powers and funding already, and people on the ground were in the driving seat and had a stake in the project, a Leeds mass transit system might have actually happened, rather than being endlessly promised, kiboshed, re-promised and then knocked on the head again.

Devolving health powers to a local region such as Yorkshire makes massive sense. Yorkshire Cancer Research, which is based in my constituency, talks endlessly about the poor life outcomes of our region compared with places in the south of England. Why not have people who know best make the key decisions about what health interventions would make sense for our area?

All those points about transport and health seek to fix something that has gone wrong in our system: Whitehall brings us to this place when we would be better off empowering people in our communities to take them forward. The naysayers will say, “It’s just a new form. There’d be more elections and more people involved.” We have seen that in the creation of combined authorities and mayoral authorities. What worries me is the fact that we have ended up with endless strategic directives and chief executives of new organisations. They often kowtow to diktats from Whitehall anyway, so where is the devolution?

I want Yorkshire answers to Yorkshire problems. I hope that other people support that too.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

I will focus my attention on my amendment 174, which would ensure that rural, remote and coastal areas are properly considered when preparing a local growth plan. As it stands, rurality is not mentioned once in the Bill, and the concerns that I raised on Second Reading remain.

The Bill’s overly centralised approach to devolution will once again neglect rural communities. It remains unclear how the specific needs of rural communities will be highlighted and addressed. Eighty-five per cent of England’s land area is classified as rural, but only 17% of the country’s population lives in those areas, and unfortunately that often means that rural areas can sometimes be ignored and left behind. But these areas have specific needs and challenges, and they require strategic support and investment to ensure that they thrive. Rural areas are the grassroots drivers of economic growth, the home of farming, food and drink production and tourism. My constituency of Glastonbury and Somerton is home to over 800 family farms, and much of the wider local industry is intertwined with food production. Therefore, there needs to be a strategic focus on rural growth to identify what enabling infrastructure is needed to support rural communities with the recent and incoming planning reforms. But this Bill will fail to capture the huge growth opportunity these areas offer unless the Government change track and pay them due regard.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)]

In Somerset, we were set back enormously by six years of council tax freeze during the early 2010s, under the Conservative-led council—[Interruption.] Council tax was frozen for six years, way in excess of what the Government had anticipated, leaving council finances in Somerset in dire straits.

[Sarah Dyke]

My hon. Friend will know that Somerset county council was near bankrupt in 2018. Indeed, we suffered a lot under the previous Conservative-led county council’s tenure because of its financial neglect. The rising costs and demand for essential services have put budgets under severe pressure, despite the significant transformation and savings now being delivered by the Liberal Democrat-led unitary council.

The lack of funding for local government is not unique to Somerset. It is a national problem that requires a national solution, with councils still waiting for the delayed details of the local government finance settlement. The current funding model is broken and it needs fundamental change. That has not been achieved in this Bill, but amendments 61 and 62, in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford, would ensure that councils designated as a single foundation strategic authority receive appropriate funding to facilitate their transition, and combined authorities receive adequate funding to facilitate their establishment. I urge all right hon. and hon. Members to support such amendments to the Bill.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call the Minister to wind up.

Supporting High Streets

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

Britain’s high streets are the beating hearts of our communities. They serve as social hubs, cultural landmarks and vital sources of jobs and prosperity. Yet in my constituency, as in the rest of the country, our high streets are under immense pressure. Local residents are concerned when they see empty shopfronts in the town centre and in our local shopping centre.

As we know, the growth of online shopping has changed the culture of retail, and that trend has only worsened as a result of the pandemic. According to Eastleigh business improvement district, footfall in Eastleigh town centre is 56% below pre-pandemic figures, which shows the depth of the decline that our high street has faced. Cuts to local bus services by Conservative-controlled Hampshire county council have left many residents without bus services. The impact on our high streets has been an afterthought for the county council, and our local businesses are starting to feel it.

It is not just declining footfall hurting our local businesses; there is also the growing threat of retail crime. According to the Office for National Statistics, shoplifting increased by 13% in the year ending June 2025. I recently met a local retailer who had been the victim of shoplifting and lost thousands of pounds-worth of stock. We have all heard stories of staff members at retail shops being subjected to verbal abuse. The Government must tackle that issue head-on and with more urgency. We need a return to proper community policing to deal with that type of crime, which is why I have long campaigned for the reopening of Eastleigh police station.

Pubs—of which there are 32 in my constituency—are perhaps the greatest symbol of our high streets. They are vital social gathering hubs for people to come together and feel part of their community. According to the British Beer and Pub Association, increases in costs after last year’s Budget mean that pubs now face a 9p loss per pint unless they raise prices by 21p. If the Government continue on this path, we risk losing the very pubs that enrich our high streets.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

The Loft bar in Street—a locally owned and run business—contributes so much to the social fabric of the town but has been crippled by business rates and rocketing utility and national insurance costs. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must support the hospitality sector, through the fundamental reform of business rates, so that it can thrive?

[Liz Jarvis]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, which I will address shortly.

Independent businesses face an incredibly tough environment. The reduction in retail, hospitality and leisure relief from 75% to 40% effectively leaves small businesses subsidising large chains. We are incredibly lucky to have many thriving independent businesses in Eastleigh, including AC Models, O’Briens, Artisan, the Coffee Cabin and Choices sandwiches. My constituent David, who is the owner of Steam Town Brew Co., told me that higher staffing costs are hitting his business hard. The employer national insurance contributions increase disincentivises businesses from investing in local jobs.

I have also spoken with local hairdressers, including Jemma from Jemma George Hair Artistry and Jane from Elite Salon in Chandler’s Ford, about the challenges they are facing. They are worried about structural flaws in the VAT system for labour-intensive businesses, challenges to the employer model within the industry, and the lingering impact of the covid pandemic. Those small businesses enrich our high streets, but they are having to fight so hard and work incredibly long hours to make themselves viable. We should be celebrating entrepreneurship, not putting more roadblocks in their way.

The previous Government left business rates unreformed, negotiated a disastrous Brexit deal, and oversaw a massive spiral in energy costs, rents and interest rates, all of which piled incredible pressure on high street businesses. So many of the challenges that those businesses are facing have been caused by policy choices made over the past decade. For all of the Reform party’s showboating, we have seen no coherent plan from it. Indeed, its Members have not even bothered to show up to this debate.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for business rates to be replaced with a commercial landowner levy, so that we tax the land value, not the productive investment. That would give struggling high streets the breathing space that they desperately need. It is wrong that households and high streets are being punished while big banks, gambling companies and social media giants get away without paying their fair share. We must shift the tax burden away from small and medium-sized businesses and on to those with the broadest shoulders.

Our communities deserve better than short-term stunts and uncosted Tory headlines. They deserve a long-term plan to revive our high streets, restore pride in our towns and put small businesses at the centre of Britain’s economic recovery.

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to speak on this important piece of legislation, and I declare my interest as a vice president of the Local Government Association. This Bill’s intention is to support further devolution—something that the Liberal Democrats are in favour of. However, the Bill fails to properly do so, and instead only reinforces the overly centralised approach taken by the last Government.

Alongside contiguous neighbours, Somerset was ready to move forward with further devolution over six months ago, when it was part of the joint “heart of Wessex” bid. Disappointingly, the Government chose not to include it in the devolution priority programme, despite the proposal matching the growth and economic objectives set out in the Government’s White Paper and encompassing nearly 2 million people. The deal would have provided greater powers for communities struggling under national policies and given rural communities confidence that their voices are being heard.

This Bill fails to adequately deal with the ongoing and ever increasing financial crisis faced by councils across the country. Despite the challenges, Liberal Democrats in Somerset have been getting on with the job of fixing council finances following the wild mismanagement of the previous Conservative administration. Just yesterday the council published a new 20-year economic prosperity strategy, which aims to build a thriving, fair and green Somerset economy. It is leading the way on low-carbon energy, aerospace and defence.

The Bill makes no reference to the unique nature of rural communities. For example, Somerset’s population is both older and ageing faster than the national average, which will increase the amount of care needed in the county. As chair of the APPG on rural services, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the additional financial challenges that rural authorities such as Somerset face. Over half of Somerset’s budget goes towards adults’ and children’s care. There is a shortage of social care providers, which will be impacted by the rise in employer national insurance contributions, and as with so many local authorities, the pressure on the delivery of SEND provision is only increasing. The Bill does nothing to stabilise the financial footing of rural councils; in fact, it fails to even mention rural communities.

We must also acknowledge that rural communities are often at the forefront of environmental issues, such as flooding. Last month, riparian ratepayers in Somerset were informed that the Environment Agency will cease main river maintenance work within the next six months. I am deeply concerned that this will put Somerset at increasing and unacceptable risk of flooding and environmental harm. How do the Government intend to implement all of this through devolution, given that the existing authorities are responsible for reinforcement, enforcement and regulation?