Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to encourage more short term and pop-up commercial leases for independent and start-up retailers and small businesses.

The Government sees small and start-up businesses as a critical part of our changing town centres and high streets, and sees short-term leases as a valuable tool for local authorities to use. But we are also supporting small retailers and businesses through other policies and have established the Minister-led Future High Street Forum to help town centres adapt to changing consumer trends.

We also worked with the retail sector and local authorities on the recent draft revision of the National Planning Policy Framework to ensure planning policy supports greater diversification and change of uses where town centres are in decline.