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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Business Improvement Districts can submit bids to the Future High Street Fund.

We are inviting bids from unitary authorities, metropolitan districts, London boroughs and, where there is a two-tier system, from district councils, in England. We are only accepting bids from local authorities, given their control of the strategic levers to develop the types of projects that will meet the objectives of the Fund. However, we encourage councils to work closely with stakeholders including Business Improvement Districts. Further information on the fund, including details of the nature of stakeholder support that we expect bidding authorities to demonstrate in their applications, can be found in the prospectus published online.