Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support culturally-significant markets in (a) Romford and (b) England.

Heritage has a vital role to play in levelling up, and can act as a powerful catalyst for increasing opportunities and prosperity. Connecting people with their local heritage can help strengthen a sense of civic pride, identity, and ownership.

Romford Market Square, High Street and North Street is designated as a conservation area and included on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, meaning that Historic England offers public funding for the repair and conservation of the asset at risk. It focuses its grants on those sites which are most in need of repair and which, without additional investment, would be at risk of deterioration.

His Majesty’s Government is taking action in towns across England to protect culturally significant marketplaces. Historic England is delivering funding to markets across England through its £95 million High Street Heritage Action Zones programme. Towns such as Redruth, Skipton, Gosport and Newport are receiving funding to repair and restore their historic markets as part of a wider programme of regeneration of their high streets.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund also supports a number of heritage projects relating to markets and their history in England. Since 1994, millions of pounds of National Lottery Heritage Fund investment has been awarded to support projects to improve the condition of England’s historic markets and to share their history with local residents and visitors alike.