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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what funding his Department allocates for the restoration of historical (a) retail and (b) hospitality outlets on high streets.

In the October 2018 Budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that up to £55 million additional funding would be made available for restoring historic high streets to boost retail and bring properties back into productive uses. This was part of the wider £675 million ‘Future High Streets Fund’. Additionally, there are also other grant schemes available through Historic England (HE). The total funding available across the applicable HE schemes is approximately £11 to £12 million per annum and includes initiatives such as the Partnership Schemes in Conservation Areas, under which HE has provided £4m between 2013/14 to 2018/19 to shops and hospitality outlets in designated conservation areas.